


Wanderlust

by Caora, JaySketchin



Series: The Snowball Effect [1]
Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: 3032 A.D., Action/Adventure, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Alternate Universe - Space, BBS Space!AU, Developing Friendships, Gen, Minor Original Character(s), Platonic Relationships, Space AU, Space Exploration, Worldbuilding, introductions, original background characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-08-27 11:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 46,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8400127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caora/pseuds/Caora, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaySketchin/pseuds/JaySketchin
Summary: Far, far above the night sky, beyond the shining stars and twinkling constellations, lay an entire galactic-wide ecosystem filled to the brim with diverse cultures and a myriad of planets that Evan could only dream of visiting. However, he was permanently grounded to the icy rock he called home, and his lifelong dream of exploring the galaxy always felt distressingly too far out of reach. At least, that was until Captain Lui Calibre and the rest of the crew on board the Millennium Valkyrie (quite literally) fought their way into his life, and flipped it upside-down. Between hostile crewmates, snarky AIs, and a roommate who didn’t seem to want anything to do with him, Evan was beginning to realise that soaring through the Zephyrus Galaxy wasn’t going to be as smooth sailing as he first thought. (Book One of “The Snowball Effect” - an ongoing series surrounding the Banana Bus Squad in space)





	1. Chapter One: A Dream Worth Chasing

Ever since he was a kid, there was nothing Evan wanted more than to travel through space. He had a telescope as long as his arm that could show him the entire sector, and his bedroom walls were covered in star charts and maps dotted with distant planets he could only dream of visiting. Scale models of solar systems hung from his ceiling, with models of space stations and ships strewn in between, and tiny green aliens painted onto the papier mache. There wasn’t a star nor constellation in the night sky that he couldn’t name, and he’d spent many a childhood night pointing out each and every one of them to his mother before she tucked him into bed and kissed him goodnight.

The other residents were always critical of his dream and thought it to be an impossibility. No one ever left their ice planet - always too afraid of what lay beyond the stars. Their spaceport was _pathetic;_ it was almost completely barren with no spaceship in sight, and travellers were few and far between. The only offworlders they would meet were those that piloted the huge oil tankards that collected the oil they’d dug up from deep underground, but they never stayed at their outpost for more than a day. Once the oil reserves were drained and their tankards filled with as much oil as they could carry, they were off to transport it to the nearby planets in the solar system, not sticking around for any longer than they needed to. They weren’t legally allowed to take passengers, and lord knows Evan had asked, so therefore there was no way off Vanossi-D19 unless a desperate traveller got lost or stopped to refuel, and didn’t mind taking a hitchhiker.

But even if the odds were against him, Evan swore he would find a way. Even if he had to build a spaceship himself out of broken equipment and abandoned oil rigs, he was getting off this hunk of ice he called home to see the universe with his own eyes. Websites and pictures were one thing, but browsing the internet would never bring him the excitement he yearned for, and would never satiate his strong need for adventure.

The stars were so inviting and he longed to be among them, longed to see a comet up close and soar through an asteroid belt, and wanted nothing more than to experience the hustle and bustle of a busy spaceport or a populated space station first hand. There was nothing for him here, even if his father argued otherwise. Evan wasn’t cut out to be a miner and was always destined for something greater, something more than drilling oil and shovelling snow.

There was an entire universe out there that was begging to be explored, and Evan would give his entire life to see it, if only he had the chance.

* * *

It wouldn’t be until Evan turned twenty-four and was doing maintenance on the top of one of the oil rigs late one evening that he would see those blinking lights he’d always dreamt of seeing flash across the darkening sky.

They were hard to miss; the unusual blinking of yellow and green standing out amidst the backdrop of twinkling white stars, zooming across the horizon like a comet, and Evan knew enough about space to know that it couldn’t be anything natural. Those lights flickered too rhythmically to be anything but artificial, yet moved too quickly to be the oil tankards that usually broke into their atmosphere, and Evan couldn’t recall ever seeing a ship that could move that fast in person before.

Denial was refusing to let him believe that it was a ship, but he struggled to think of what else it could have been. Stars weren’t green, and meteors didn’t blink, so it had to be something man-made; it had to be a _ship,_ and based on its trajectory, it was a ship that was heading directly towards _his_ spaceport.

Evan could feel twinges of hope pluck at his heart strings, his stomach twisting in excitement and breath hitching in sheer disbelief as he watched it sink down towards the horizon and disappear behind some far off buildings in the nearby town out of sight. The rational part of him was screaming at him not to get optimistic, not to assume that it was a travelling ship that could whisk him away from his boring, meaningless life, and he reminded himself of the last time he had gotten his hopes up only to have them come crashing back down around him again when it proved to be merely a patrol ship instead.

However, the rational part of him was easily silenced by his inner child who was _celebrating._ He had a _chance._ There was no denying that some sort of spaceship was docking at the nearest spaceport _right this second,_  and if he was lucky, then he might just be able to convince the captain to let him on board. If he was lucky, then this could be the day when all his dreams came true, and he’d finally get off his floating ice rock for good. Everything he had ever wanted ever since he was a kid was now within arm’s reach and he could taste the adventure already, his skin prickling with excitement, and all he had to do was get on board that ship.

If he managed to get on board that ship, then everything else would fall into place, and he’d get to explore the galaxy just like he’d always wanted.

Suddenly determined, Evan dropped what he was doing, and made a beeline for the nearest ladder back down to the ground, abandoning his tools and equipment behind him (he wasn’t going to need them where he was going anyway). Not for the first time, he cursed at how tall the oil rig was and at how long it took him to make his way back down to the platform at the bottom, choosing to skip the last few rungs to save time and instead leaped off the ladder to land on the metal platform with a resounding clang. The sound was loud enough that it drew the attention of his coworkers, but Evan paid them no heed as he dashed past them towards the door that would lead him out of the compound. He fumbled with his key card as he tried to unlock the mesh gate as quickly as he could, and immediately bolted outside the second it had opened.

Snow was pouring down heavily from the sky and the wind was strong and blowing him back, but he still pushed forwards. Even if the snow on the ground was thick and nearly impossible to run through, it didn’t stop him from trying anyway. His footsteps were heavy as Evan clumsily trudged onwards, trying hard not to trip and fall, but he refused to slow down and watch his step. Time was of the essence, and he couldn’t afford to waste it by treading as slowly as he usually trudged. If he didn’t get to the spaceport in time, then he’d miss the ship altogether and lose this once in a lifetime opportunity, and he couldn’t afford to let his dreams slip through his fingers. Travelling ships were such a rare occurrence on his isolated homeworld that for all he knew, this could be the only chance of leaving the planet that he would get. He _had_ to get there on time, he just _had_ to.

His lungs were burning by the time he had reached the outskirts of town almost ten minutes later, and the chill in the air was pinching his nose and cheeks. The cold made it difficult to catch his breath, but he couldn’t stop running. As much as his body needed a break from the arduous sprint through the thick snow, he couldn’t afford to give it one, and had no choice but to continue sprinting through the narrow alleyways and throngs of people towards the spaceport. The ship wasn’t going to wait for him, and he couldn’t let it leave without him. He refused to let his hopes and dreams be crushed again.

People were shouting at him for roughly elbowing past them, but Evan barely had time to call out hasty apologies to them as he continued on his journey. He ducked and weaved through the crowds, trying and failing not to bump into anyone, and he could feel all eyes on him as he dashed through the narrow streets. Nothing ever happened in their little town, so he imagined his rushing was something worth gossiping about to a few of the inhabitants, and he could only imagine the things they’d say when they found out exactly _why_ he was in such a hurry. His neighbours had never shared his love for the stars and space exploration, and always criticised him for having his head so far above the clouds and dreaming impossible dreams, but he was determined to prove them wrong. He was determined to reach that ship and live the adventurous life he was always meant to live.

Evan was rapidly approaching the spaceport, and he was experiencing tunnel vision as he hurried towards it, heart beating hard and fast against his ribcage. His hopes were higher than the stars he had always longed to capture into glass jars, and excitement was building more and more in his chest. Even though his lungs felt as if they were going to explode from exhaustion, he forced himself to sprint that little bit faster when he saw the entranceway, refusing to let that ship leave without him. Everything he had ever wanted was so _close_ that he could taste it, so close he could reach out and grab it, and he couldn’t let the opportunity slip away from him.

The automatic doors slid open far too slowly for his liking, and he couldn’t wait for them to open fully before squeezing through the opening and dashing inside. The building was deserted and there wasn’t a single person to be seen, but Evan chalked their absence up to everyone heading outside to take care of the visiting ship. He took advantage of the fact that no one was around and jumped over the turnstiles, knowing that no one was going to stop him from accessing a restricted area.

Once he was through to the other side, he quickly made his way outside and froze in his tracks when he laid eyes on the ship perched on one of the landing platforms.

It was bigger than he’d imagined it would be but much smaller than the oil tankards that usually docked by the rigs, and looked to be just slightly larger than the average house. It was an odd square shape with smooth rounded corners and edges, and two long branches that protruded from the front - one of which holding what Evan guessed was the cabin - and was held up on four landing legs at each corner. Large guns were mounted on each side, and the hull was made from a sleek steel that reflected the soft yellow glow of the streetlights dotted around the spaceport. Windows were scarce and practically nonexistent, and the back was lit up with bright yellow and green lights - the very lights Evan had seen move across the sky moments before.

The sight was breathtaking, and Evan examined it closely with childlike wonder as he committed it to memory. He had never seen a ship quite like this one before, and he couldn’t believe that he might have the chance to fly on it.

Or so he thought.

Just as he took a step towards it, the engine whirred to life and started humming as it began slowly lifting up off the ground, and Evan’s heart dropped. It was leaving?! Already?! No, no this couldn’t be happening. It just got here, it couldn’t be leaving already! His one chance of getting off this _damn_ ice planet couldn’t be taking off without him, it wasn’t fair. Life couldn’t be that cruel. He couldn’t be _that_ unlucky.

Alas, good fortune wasn’t with him and the landing gear began folding away as it ascended farther and farther into the sky, and Evan could do nothing but watch as it leisurely left the spaceport, taking all of his hopes and dreams with it. It was foolish of him to think that he ever had a chance of being welcomed on board anyway, not when his only credentials were boundless enthusiasm and an unachievable dream, and no captain worth their salt would ever accept anyone with as little experience as he had. He was so naive to think that this ever would have worked out for him, and he wondered if maybe he brought his broken heart and crushed spirit on himself.

As he watched the ship get smaller and smaller as it flew farther and farther into the distance, Evan’s heart sunk further down into his chest, and his shoulders slumped dejectedly. He was struggling to remember a time when he felt more disappointed than he did right then but his mind was drawing blanks. He felt so empty, as though he had a hole in his chest, and felt as if he had just lost everything even though he didn’t have anything to begin with.

He felt so deflated, and his heart had sank low into his stomach, and he began to wonder if maybe everyone was right. Maybe it _was_ foolish of him to believe that he ever had a chance of leaving this worthless planet. What was likely his one and only opportunity of exploring the galaxy just soared off without him, leaving him behind with a crushed spirit and sense of loss, and he was so crestfallen that he could cry.

Evan had gotten his hopes up so high, and he was paying for that mistake now with a broken heart and shattered dreams. He was never leaving his home planet. He was stuck here for good, and the sooner he realised and accepted this, the better. No one was going to come and whisk him away to stars unknown; no one was going to invite him to explore other planets and moons, or introduce him to foreign alien species. He was stuck here, and it was as simple as that. This hunk of ice was going to be his grave, and he was going to die here without ever achieving his dreams, and there was no way around it.

It was childish of him to think that he could ever board a ship and see the stars up close, and maybe this was what he deserved for being so unrealistic. His father had told him time and time again, and maybe he should have listened to him as it would have saved him the disappointment; _"You're a Fong, Evan, and Fongs are oil miners, not astronauts. Get your head out of the clouds."_

He was so hopeful that he could have a future and could make a life for himself beyond what Vanossi could give him, but he was wrong. He never had a real chance, and the one opportunity he might have had was zooming away, never to return, never to take him to where he so desperately dreamed of going. He was trapped on this planet like a bird in a cage; his wings clipped before he had a chance to fly.

The reality that he would never get to explore space was crushing down on him, and he'd never felt so dejected.

"Fong? What are you doing here?" The sudden voice cut him from his thoughts and he snapped his attention to the worker who was speaking to him, and recognised the confused face of his old high school peer, Randy. _Great._ _As if things couldn’t get any worse…_  "You don't work here..."

"Oh! I was just-..." he began to explain, but cut himself off when he realised the truth would only inspire harassment, and he'd be made fun of for thinking he could have boarded that ship. Randy had been the one to primarily tease him about his dreams in his youth, and giving his old school bully fuel for the fire would only cause him more pain that he didn’t need. He glanced up at the sky again and watched the disappearing blinking lights with a frown and a heart heavy with disappointment. He was so close...

Randy followed his gaze to the skies, eyes squinting as he tried to figure out what had captured his attention so intently until it clicked and he let out a cackle. "Oh you came here to try to hitchhike on the ship, didn't you?" he teased, nudging him, and Evan inwardly groaned. Even now after he had long since graduated, he was still getting mocked for daring to have a dream. He supposed that some things never changed - Randy’s lack of empathy being no exception. "Same old Spaceman Fong, you haven't changed a bit," he laughed, shaking his head and clapped Evan on the shoulder. "You wouldn't want to be on _that_ ship anyway, man. The boys and I sabotaged it," he added with a wink.

"Sabotage?" Evan repeated in surprise. "What do you mean you sabotaged it?" He knew that many of his planet's inhabitants were xenophobic and didn't react kindly to offworlders, but purposely damaging their ship was a whole lot worse than making a few racist jokes. This was putting the crew's lives at risk. Their ‘harmless’ prank could get innocent people _killed,_  and he couldn't believe they would do something so reckless.

"Relax, Fong," Randy scoffed, rolling his eyes and smacking Evan on the back again. "We just watered down their fuel a bit, nothing major. They'll be fine, but that's the last time a group of fucking offworlders come to try and drain our precious fuel reserve, that's for damn sure."

Evan wasn't sure he'd classify their fuel reserve as 'precious' as ships rarely visited or needed the fuel to begin with, and considering their planet's main export was oil, it wasn't as if they were experiencing a shortage of it, but he never got a chance to argue his point. While Randy and him were talking, they failed to notice that the ship had turned around and was now heading back towards them.

The approaching blinking lights caught Evan's attention out of the corner of his eye, and he looked up at the sky in wide-eyed surprise when he realised that it was coming back. _The ship was coming back!_ He didn't want to get his hopes up again at the possibility that maybe he would get a second chance to board, not when he was still reeling from having his hopes crushed the first time mere moments before, but it was unmistakably returning to their spaceport, and this time he would be here to see it, and he couldn't help but feel excited regardless.

Once Randy realised that Evan wasn't paying attention to whatever racist remarks he was spouting, he followed Evan's line of sight and reacted much less warmly when he realised what was going on. He audibly cursed and began to panic, likely realising that the crew discovered what he'd done and were coming back to give him a piece of their minds, but Evan tightly gripped his arm and held him in place before he tried to run and escape the consequences. He deserved to face the repercussions for what he'd done, and Evan wasn't going to let him get away with it.

He squirmed and wriggled in his grip, but Evan refused to let him go and ignored his protests in favour of watching the ship loom closer and closer to them. He could feel his heart beating hard with excitement as he watched it approach them, and stared at it completely awestruck as it hovered above them. He was vaguely aware of Randy making some sort of insulting comment about his childlike wonder as he stared, but he paid him no attention and kept his gaze fixed on the ship as it slowly lowered itself down onto the landing platform.

Within minutes, the ship was parked in front of him, and the low hum of the engine switched off and they were suddenly plunged into silence.

Agonizing minutes passed, and they were left waiting in anticipation for something to happen, and Evan shifted on the spot impatiently. His eyes were locked on the ship, watching it intently and waiting for the door to open and the crew to step out, but they were taking far too long for his liking. He wanted to meet them so desperately, and still held onto the small hope that he could convince them to take him with them. Although if he was truly honest, he had no idea as to what he should say to them to win them over as he never believed that he would ever get this far. He had dreamt of this moment for a long time, and now that it was here, he didn't know what to say.

There was a loud click, then a noise that sounded like trapped steam releasing through a tight space, and then the ramp towards the back of the ship began to lower. Evan could only watch on speechless as it descended towards the ground, Randy still squirming in his grip but Evan held onto him tightly and kept him in place, and in a matter of moments, the edge of the ramp hit the cement with a metallic thud. His breath was hitched and it felt as if the world around him had stopped moving as he waited for the crew to appear with bated breath, his heart thumping hard in his chest.

Another moment passed before someone finally appeared, and if Evan was honest with himself, he always imagined that they’d be a little… taller.

Heavy boots clanged onto the steel ramp as the first crewmate stepped out, but another two weren’t far behind. He was noticeably short, and dressed in a red shirt and black vest, and Evan’s eyes were immediately drawn to the pistol hanging in the holster by his hip. That combined with his displeased scowl was enough to make him intimidating in spite of his short stature. His furious brown eyes were locked onto Randy, who had by now stopped wriggling to watch the crew approach him, his face pale and eyes wide in fear.

It wasn’t the first crewmate he needed to be afraid of though, but the second. Another man even shorter than the first stormed past his colleague and made a beeline towards them, and even if Evan hadn’t let go of him in time, he was sure that this crewmate would have had no problem ripping him from his grip in spite of his small size. He roughly grabbed Randy by the lapels and easily pinned him against a nearby wall in one smooth, swift motion, and glared up at him with fierce brown eyes. Now that he was no longer a charging blur, Evan gave him a quick onceover, observing the all black attire - a pattern broken only by the red bandana tied tightly around his head - and noted the pistol on his hip and shotgun on his back that showed he wasn’t to be trifled with.

Even though it was the second man holding Randy against the wall, he was more than content to let the first do all the talking. “What the fuck did you do to my ship?!” he snarled, marching straight past Evan to join his friend, neither of them paying him any attention and instead poured all of their focus into threatening Randy, who was stammering and trying to talk his way out of the hole he had dug himself into.

Evan wasn’t sure how to feel about them ignoring him like this, but he supposed it was better than the alternative. The last thing he needed was for them to mistake him as being apart of the crew that worked at the spaceport as he was _sure_ his chances of them letting him hitch a ride off Vanossi would be ruined if they thought he had a part in damaging their precious ship. It was going to be hard enough to convince them to let him on board without having a misunderstanding give him a bad first impression.

As he watched them intimidate Randy, and silently tried to figure out what he was going to say to them when they were finished, the third crewmate stood next to him and lightly chuckled to himself. “I love watching those two fight people twice their size. It’s my favourite part of the job,” he said amused, watching them with an odd fondness that Evan didn’t entirely understand.

Unlike his friends, this crewmate was much taller and towered over even Evan himself, and spoke with an odd accent that he couldn’t quite place. He was dressed more casually in a loose fitting blue tunic and a pair of sensible brown shoes, with a strange pendant dangling around his neck. He didn’t seem to be armed, but the other crewmates more than made up for his lack of weaponry.

“Does this kind of thing happen often?” Evan asked curiously, turning back to where Randy was still pinned up against the wall and staring down the crew as if he was worried they were going to shank him.

“You’d be surprised. We’re like a magnet for trouble.” He chuckled again. “But I don’t mind it though. It makes life exciting! Maybe a little _too_ exciting sometimes, but exciting nonetheless,” he told him, and Evan felt a pang of longing in his chest. “But I suppose no one goes into this line of work unless they love the adventure.”

“Yeah,” Evan breathed, finding himself wanting to venture off into space now more than ever. He thought that maybe watching two space explorers threaten someone he knew from his past (but never liked that much anyway) would have put him off, but it didn’t, and even though he recognised the fact that he was potentially throwing himself into danger by choosing to continue pursuing his dream, he didn’t care.

He wanted this, so so much, that he was willing to overlook the life threatening danger and hostile situations he could potentially find himself in if it meant travelling the galaxy and experiencing new cultures first hand. Trouble would likely follow him if this crewmate was to be believed, but he found himself wanting that in a strange twisted way. He longed for adventure, every aspect of it, both the good and the bad, and he needed to convince them to let him come with them, even if only for a little while. He wanted off this planet to experience everything he was missing, and at this point, he was willing to do _anything_ to get it.

He just needed to figure out how to bring the subject up to them to begin with.

“You don’t get much adventure around here, unfortunately,” Evan added, subtly hinting that he would love everything that the crewmate was talking about, but he missed that subtle point completely.

“Yeah, this place seems really boring. No offense,” he added when he realised that what he said might have been insulting, but Evan merely chuckled in agreement.

“None taken.”

As he tried to work out how to request to be let on board the ship, the other two crewmates finished threatening Randy. The one who had been pinning him against the wall sharply tugged him away and began pushing him towards the ship, and as they stalked off, the other crewmate turned to them with a noticeable scowl on his face. “Nogla; go with Arlan and make sure those assholes don’t tamper with our fuel again,” he ordered, exasperated.

“Aye aye Captain,” Nogla muttered under his breath with an eyeroll, but did as he was told in spite of his disrespectful tone which the Captain didn’t seem to mind.

Evan, on the other hand, had frozen in place and was struggling to comprehend what he had just said. _Captain._ He was the _Captain._  This was the crewmate that he needed to speak with if he wanted to get on board that ship, not Nogla. This was the crewmate that could make or break him; the crewmate that had the authority to make all of his dreams come true, or end them before he ever had a chance to achieve them. _This_ was the crewmate that he needed to impress. _This_ was the crewmate that he needed to win over, if only he could figure out _how._

The pressure was getting to him, and his heart was beating hard in his chest, making it difficult to breathe. He was beyond nervous and his palms were sweaty, but this could be his one and only chance to leave Vanossi for good. His ticket off this damn ice rock was standing in front of him, looking slightly pissed off, and he somehow had to convince him to take him with them. He didn’t have the slightest clue as to how he was supposed to do that, but he still needed to try.

Who knew when the next ship would dock at their usually barren spaceport? Visitors to their planet were so rare that he might never get another chance after this. He _needed_ to hitch a ride with this crew, and _needed_ the Captain to agree to let him on board. He couldn’t let his almost overwhelming nerves get the better of him, and hold him back and prevent him from asking. His entire future, his hopes and dreams, it all hinged on what he said to him.

If he ever wanted to break through the atmosphere and finally see the stars first hand, then he couldn’t fuck this up. He needed to get this right.

“Uhh…” Evan began, his sudden voice gaining the attention of the Captain. “...Hi?” he said finally, internally cursing himself for his awkwardness. ‘Hi’? Is that _really_ the best he could think of?! Not even a professional ‘hello’?!

“...Hi?” the Captain returned, seemingly confused as to why he was attempting to talk to him. “...Do you need something?”

“No. Well- I mean- yes, kind of… but no- I mean, I don’t work here, but I might kind of sort of need… your help… maybe?” Evan stuttered out, hating himself for not being more firm and sounding so unsure of himself. He knew _exactly_ what he wanted; he had known ever since he was a little kid, but now that the opportunity was right in front of him and waiting for him to grasp it, he was having trouble trying to find the words and the confidence he needed to get what he most wanted. Nerves were prickling at his skin and making him fumble over his words, and at this point, he was wondering if he was better off just throwing caution into the wind and blurting out his request before he ruined his chances.

“My help? With what?” the Captain asked him curiously, now looking up at him and listening to him intently, giving him his full attention.

This was the moment. This was his opportunity to ask. There was no waiting for the right moment, as Evan knew that he would never find a better time to ask than right then and there. His hands were clamming up and his mouth was dry, but this was his one shot to get everything that he had been dreaming of for as long as he could remember, and no amount of nerves were going to let this chance slip through his fingers. With sudden determination, he took a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart, and made the request he had been itching to make ever since he learned how to talk.

“I need help getting off this planet.”

The second the words left his tongue, the whole universe came to a halt. The air felt so still, and he wasn’t aware of anything but the sound of his own heartbeat, and the look of surprise on the Captain’s face. His greatest desire was now out in the open, and he didn’t feel the slightest bit relieved. There was a lump in his throat, and he tried his hardest to swallow it down as he anxiously awaited a response.

The captain seemed taken aback by his statement, and before he spoke, he glanced around to make sure that there was no one around to overhear their conversation. “You want to leave?” he asked in a hushed voice, leaning closer to him ever so slightly. “Why?”

That was a question that was surprisingly difficult to answer. It wasn’t that Evan didn’t know his reasoning as that had never been something he doubted, but now that he was standing in front of an _actual real life spaceship Captain,_  he was beginning to wonder if he was being childish. Asking him to let him on board his ship because it was his dream to see the stars? It all seemed so juvenile now that he thought about it..

Evan knew nothing of this Captain (and in hindsight, he should’ve made sure he was a good person before asking for his help, but he wasn’t exactly thinking straight), but he could only imagine the things he’d seen, and the adventures that he and his crew had been on. His tiny request to help him off his planet solely because he wanted to see the galaxy must seem so silly and naive compared to everything he’s done.

Sheer determination had got Evan this far, but now it was beginning to waiver.

He must have taken just a little too long to respond, as the Captain started making guesses. “What’s going on? Totalitarian government? Someone trying to kill you? _Are you not safe here?”_

“No no, it’s nothing like that!” Evan hastily corrected him, and this only confused the Captain more. He seemed to think that Evan was in trouble, and this only made him feel _worse_ about asking. Was he being immature? “I uh… I just want to leave,” he admitted quietly, shoulders and heart sinking.

This was stupid. What was he doing? Asking a Captain to let him on board his ship simply because he really wanted this? He was being childish. He was twenty-three years old, and here he was acting as if he was fucking _twelve._  He shouldn’t have done this; he shouldn’t have brought it up. He was just wasting his time.

...But this was his dream, and he wanted so badly to achieve it.

“Why?” the Captain asked again, this time in a much softer tone of voice. He was being so patient, and was so concerned about him, and Evan wasn’t sure he deserved this. “I can get you off this planet if you _really_ need to, but I can’t do anything for you if you don’t give me all the details.”

But that was the problem: he didn’t necessarily _need_ to get off Vanossi; he just really wanted to. Aside from being stuck in a dead end job he hated, Evan wasn’t living a bad life. Sure he wasn’t happy, and his Dad was constantly on his back about working in the mining industry, but it was nothing he desperately needed to escape from. He might not have had a reason to stay, and all he wanted was to achieve his dream, but he was no longer sure if that was a good enough reason to leave.

He hoped so, and he hoped the Captain wouldn’t judge him. Even if he was having doubts for the first time in his life, he still wanted this, and he still felt as though he needed to try.

Evan took another deep breath to calm himself and took that first step past the point of no return. “I… have a dream,” he began slowly, forcing himself to look the Captain in the eye. “Ever since I was a kid, I wanted nothing more than adventure and to explore the galaxy, but the people on this planet aren’t exactly… _open-minded_ when it comes to anything outside of our planet, so no one ever leaves. Space travel just isn’t possible here. No one on this planet has a ship or knows someone with one, so my only chance of ever getting to see the galaxy in person is to hitchhike with somebody that flies by here, and we don’t exactly get many visitors…”

“...Except me,” the Captain finished for him, and Evan nodded in confirmation. He was surprised by how much the Captain was humouring him after finding out that he wasn’t in danger, but it was difficult to tell what he was thinking with that unreadable poker face he was wearing. For all he knew, he was trying to figure out a kind way to let him down easy.

“But I’m not asking to travel with you permanently or anything!” Evan added quickly, wanting to explain himself a little further before he got rejected. “I just need a ride to the nearest space station, and I’ll figure out where to go from there. Or any space station for that matter, I’m not picky! It doesn’t even have to be a space station! Any planet with a busy spaceport will do! Please, you’ll be doing me a _huge_ favour.”

Evan bit his lip to stop himself from rambling any further as it was beginning to sound like begging. His desperation was leaking into his words, and his request now sounded like more of a plea. He really wanted him to agree to this, even if his reasoning wasn’t as life threatening as the Captain initially believed, but he wouldn’t be able to bear it if he said ‘no’. He’d understand, but it would break his heart and rip it to shreds, and Evan doubted he’d ever be whole again. He was _so close_ to getting off this planet that it would absolutely _crush_ him if the Captain were to turn him down now.

But instead of giving him a definite answer, the Captain responded with a question. “Do you not have a plan?”

Evan blinked. “A plan?”

“Yeah, a plan. What are you going to do when you get to the space station?” he asked him, completely throwing him for a loop. He… honestly never thought that far ahead.

“I uh… I was going to find another ship that could take me somewhere…?” Evan replied, unsure.

“Where?”

“Anywhere? I just want to see as much of the galaxy as possible; I’ll go wherever anyone is willing to take me.” That much he was sure of.

Once he broke through the atmosphere, he would be further than he ever thought he’d get, and any planet he got to visit after that was a bonus. He wasn’t picky as to which ones he got to see as long as he got to see something that was different from Vanossi. Ideally, he’d like to see _everything,_  but space was a big place and he knew that wasn’t possible, and he was willing to settle for exploring as much as he could.

“And how do you plan on paying for all of that? Most ship captains aren’t going to take you anywhere for free, you know,” the Captain pointed out, crossing his arms, and Evan felt his heart sink just a little bit. He raised a very valid point.

“I could work for them? Do a few odd jobs and help out where I can when I’m on board?” he suggested. That was reasonable, right? Work for board and travel? Was that something people did?

“And what skills do you have to offer them?” the Captain pressed further, and with every question he asked, Evan felt his dream slip a little further away. He was slowly starting to realise that he hadn’t thought this out as well as he believed, and now was beginning to wonder if he was making a mistake. Maybe he was being childish after all.

“I know a lot about astronomy? And I’m pretty good with tools, and I’m a fast learner, so I can do some odd jobs on board the ship? I could always be a janitor or something, or do heavy lifting, I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out! I won’t find myself homeless or stranded on a random space station somewhere if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ve wanted this for far too long to let my journey end there. It _won’t_ end there, _I won’t let it,"_  he said firmly, feeling that rush of determination surge through him again. “I get you’re concerned, but I _know_ I can do this, and if I can’t… well then at least I tried. I want this too much to have it end before it began, so please, _please_ help me. You just need to drop me off at a space station, and then I’ll take it from there and I won’t be your problem anymore. _Please help me."_

Whatever happens after this, at least he could say that he put himself out there. All of his cards were face up on the table, and he had nothing left to say. Evan could beg a little more, and talk about his dream until he was blue in the face, but he had already said everything that could possibly make up the Captain’s mind. There was nothing more to add, and now it was the Captain’s turn to speak.

The air was tense between them as he mulled over Evan’s words, looking at him up and down as if he was assessing his worth. Then he laughed. “You’ve got some fight in you, haven’t you?” he hummed in amusement and smiled up at him.

Evan… was confused. “I… I guess?” he replied, unsure. That wasn’t the response he was expecting, but him being in a good mood was a good sign, right?

“No, you do. I can tell,” he hummed again and gave him another once over. “So you really want to travel through space, huh?”

“More than anything,” Evan said, his shoulders sinking slightly with relief, but he was still nervous. His heart was beating fast and hard in his chest, and hadn’t once calmed down throughout this entire conversation. He hoped he would receive a definitive answer soon so he could start breathing easily again.

“Space is dangerous, you know,” the Captain pointed out, still watching him in amusement, but why he was so amused, Evan couldn’t figure out.

“I know, but I don’t care,” Evan said firmly. “Danger equals adventure, and that’s what I’m looking for. It’ll give me a story to tell.”

The Captain laughed again. “I knew you had fight in you,” he mused, looking up at him fondly. “And you’re one hundred percent sure that this is what you want?”

“Yes. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” Evan told him, barely giving him time to finish his question, and surprised himself with how steady his voice was in spite of his perpetual nerves. He had been dreaming about this opportunity ever since he was child, and there wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that this was what he was supposed to do with his life. His Dad could argue otherwise as much as he’d like, but Evan knew he was destined for something greater, and he wasn’t going to achieve it while mining oil.

For the umpteenth time, the Captain examined him, evaluating and reevaluating him over and over until he finally came to a decision, and it only took one small word to stop Evan’s heart. “Okay,” he said simply, and flashed him a smile.

Evan was too stunned to respond. Did he… did he just say ‘yes’?! Did someone _actually_ agree to help him off this planet?! It almost seemed too good to be true, and his mind was having difficulty processing what just happened. Did he really agree? Was he really going to go into space?!

“You okay?” the Captain asked with a smirk, effectively snapping him out of the daze he had unknowingly fallen into. “Do you need me to pinch you to make sure you’re not dreaming?”

“No! I’m fine!” he reassured him quickly, and he couldn’t stop the wide grin from tugging at the corners of his lips, the captain’s teasing not affecting him in the slightest. “This is just... so amazing! I owe you _big time,_  thank you _so_ much! You have no idea how much this means to me!”

The Captain laughed. “I can guess!”

His nerves had finally dissipated, and excitement was bubbling in his chest. Evan couldn’t remember the last time he had felt _this_ happy (if ever), and it was taking all of his willpower not to scoop the Captain up into a hug and spin him around as if they had been friends for years. His heart felt as light as a cloud, so light he could float away, and his cheeks were hurting from smiling so widely. There was nothing, _nothing,_  that could top this moment.

After all these years of dreaming, Evan ‘Spaceman’ Fong was finally going to space.

The mere thought was enough to give him butterflies, and he was feeling so giddy that he doubted there would be anything that could bring him down. The stars were within his reach and he couldn’t wait to see them, and he was so excited that he had to remind himself to be patient, and that he shouldn’t rush the Captain on board or else he might change his mind. He had waited _so long_ for this moment that he was sure he could wait just a little bit longer before climbing aboard a real life spaceship for the first time (another thought that caused a surge of elation to shoot through him).

“I’m Lui Calibre, by the way. I’m the Captain on board this ship,” he finally introduced himself and offered him his hand to shake, and it wasn’t until then that Evan realised that they didn’t know each other’s names.

“Evan! Evan Fong,” he introduced himself in return, gripping his hand a little too tightly and shaking it a little too enthusiastically, still wearing that wide cheek splitting grin.

Lui chuckled, amused at his boundless energy, and Evan recognised that he likely looked like an excited child who was just told that he was going to Planet Disney, but couldn’t bring himself to care. Even in spite of his earlier worries, he was in too high of spirits to be bothered about how childish he must seem right now. He was finally going to achieve his dream, and he figured that all of his excitement could be excused.

Before either of them could say anything else, Nogla and Arlan returned from the other side of the ship where it was being drained and refuelled. “He says it’s going to take twenty minutes to empty the tank,” Nogla explained as they approached Lui, who let out an irritated sigh, previous anger building back up at the reminder of what happened.

“This is going to set us back a whole hour then!” he groaned, rubbing his face and frowning in annoyance, and his crew’s sympathetic apologies did little to make him feel better. Lui stayed quiet for a moment, deep in thought about something or other, before glancing back at Evan again. “I do have some good news at least,” he mused, smile returning, and Nogla and Arlan perked up. “I want you guys to meet Evan, our new crewmate!”

The surprise on Nogla and Arlan’s faces was nothing compared to the shock that hit Evan. _Did he say ‘new crewmate’?!_

Evan honestly wasn’t expecting him to let him join his crew. That was so far from a possibility in his mind that he didn’t even consider asking. He just thought that Lui was agreeing to drop him off at the nearest space station; he never would have thought that he was agreeing to _this._ Part of him thought that maybe Lui was joking, and was using him as a prop in a silly prank against his crewmates, but nothing about his tone or facial expression suggested that he was messing around. He seemed serious, and Evan didn’t know how to feel about that.

“You hired someone?” Arlan asked, looking him up and down as if he were assessing him, in much the same the Captain had done mere moments before. “Why?”

“He said he wanted to explore the galaxy, but he’s never been offworld before, and it’s already dangerous to hitchhike when you’re experienced with space travel, nevermind when you’re unfamiliar with everything but your own planet. He’ll be safer with us,” Lui explained with a curt nod and flashed a smile up at Evan.

Holy shit, he was serious. He really wanted him to join his crew. Evan’s heart leapt as a surge of happiness rushed through him, and he couldn’t help but grin widely at him again. He had known Lui for all of ten minutes, and he was already his absolute favourite person in the entire galaxy. He owed him his life and then some for all the opportunities he was so willing to give him, and Evan wasn’t sure how he was ever going to pay him back for all of this. He’d figure something out, but he definitely owed him big time.

“Safer? With us? You sure about that?” Nogla asked him, amused, and folded his arms across his chest. Evan wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but he was too elated to care.

Lui smirked. “He said he didn’t mind the danger.”

“Well, he’s going to regret saying that then,” Nogla chuckled with a light shake of his head, but Arlan wasn’t quite as welcoming to the idea of Evan joining as Nogla was.

“That’s all well and good and all, but what’s he going to do when he gets on board?” Arlan asked with a small frown, still eyeing him suspiciously, and Evan’s smile faltered. He wasn’t going to talk Lui out of letting him on board, was he?

Lui shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I figured we’ll let him work a bit with everybody, and just see where he fits in best. Plus we can always train him to work with Brock, or even you and Tyler if we really need to. We’ll figure something out.”

“Did you interview him at all?” Arlan pressed further.

“I did! Kind of…” Lui trailed off sheepishly, but Evan didn’t know what he was referring to as he didn’t recall being interviewed. Lui did ask him a few questions on what he planned to do once he got to the space station and what he had to offer ships that could potentially pick him up, but that wasn’t supposed to be an interview, was it?

_"Kind of?!”_ Arlan exclaimed, rolling his eyes and gesturing wildly in exasperation. He opened his mouth to say something else, but thought better of it and changed his mind when he remembered that Evan could clearly hear everything he was saying, and instead lightly gripped Lui’s wrist and gently tugged him off to the side and began whispering to him in a language Evan didn’t understand.

Even though they were no longer speaking in Common and Evan didn’t know what they were saying, he still tried to listen in and eavesdrop regardless, but his attempts were fruitless. He desperately wanted to know what they were saying since they were _definitely_ talking about him, but without a translator, he couldn’t understand a word.

Worry began to set in as he grew concerned that Arlan didn’t want him on board their ship, and was trying to change Lui’s mind about hiring him. He had to admit that he understood why Arlan wouldn’t be immediately open to the idea of bringing him onto their team, considering they had only just met and they knew almost nothing about him, but he was _so close_ to achieving his dream that it would only break his heart to have it all suddenly pulled away from him after he was given exactly what he wanted. He wasn’t going to be able to relax until he was on board and they had taken off. His nerves weren’t going to leave him until he was finally in space.

While Arlan was hesitant, Nogla was much more welcoming and open to the idea of him joining their crew. “Well, welcome to the team!” he said with a friendly grin, and took Evan’s hand and shaked it.

“Thanks! I’m looking forward to travelling with you!” Evan replied with a smile, but his heart wasn’t in it and his gaze drifted back to Lui and Arlan, smile fading just as quickly as his never ending worry bothered him again. “I hope…” he muttered under his breath, but not as quietly as he’d hoped as Nogla still heard him.

“Nah, don’t worry! If Lui says you’re coming with us, then you’re coming with us. He’s as stubborn as a mule, and there’s nothing Arlan can say to him that’s going to change his mind. If he likes you and wants you on board, then you’re coming on board,” Nogla reassured him and lightly clapped him on the shoulder. Evan had to admit that did make him feel a little better, but he still wished he knew what they were talking about.

“Can you understand them?” he asked out of curiosity.

Nogla shook his head. “No, I don’t speak Spanish,” he told him, and joined Evan in watching Lui and Arlan whisper to each other. He could pick out his name which confirmed for sure that they were talking about him, and it made him feel uneasy. “HEY!” Nogla yelled after a while, surprising him and making him jump. “Can you two stop speaking fucking Spanish and speak Common like the rest of us? It’s fucking rude.”

They both looked up at Nogla when he addressed them, but Arlan shushed him and told him to give them a minute and quickly went back to speaking in hushed Spanish with Lui. Their conversation became more hurried as they made a genuine effort to wrap up their discussion, and it wasn’t long until they came to a decision and turned their attention back to the rest of the small group. Evan waited with bated breath for one of them to speak, quietly hoping that nothing had changed in the past few minutes, and that Nogla was right about Lui not being one to change his mind.

“Alright Evan; we talked about it, and we’re still going to let you come with us,” Lui told him and smiled at him again, and this time Arlan smiled with him, and that alone was enough to relieve him. _“But_ we’re going to give you a proper background check when we get on board. It’s standard procedure, nothing to worry about, and assuming you pass that, then you can join our crew provided you can pull your weight.” At that, Evan grinned down at him as excitement swarmed him once again. "Also, we might have to give you some self defense classes later once you get settled, just in case."

Evan nodded, chest fluttering at the mere excitement of it all. “Thank you _so much!_  This means so much to me, you have no idea.”

“So you’ve said,” Lui laughed, smiling just as brightly up at him as Nogla gave him another clap on the shoulder and pulled him into a friendly side hug. “And I hate to cut this conversation short, but we’re already behind schedule, and I believe you have some packing to do before we set off,” he pointed out, and it wasn’t until then that it fully hit Evan what he was about to do. This was really happening. He was really going to space. “So how about you go and do that, and meet us back here in an hour, an hour and a half tops? And we’ll get going. There’ll be plenty of time to talk and get to know each other while we’re in space.”

Evan nodded on autopilot, and confirmed that that sounded good and thanked them again, before bidding them a temporary goodbye and running off back home to get ready.

He was going to space.

He was really going to space.

A whole mass of emotions swarmed him at once and knocked the wind out of him and left him breathless. After all of these years, he was _finally_ going to be doing the one thing he had always dreamed of. He wasn’t sleeping, nor daydreaming, nor stuck in his childhood fantasy of flying through the stars; this was _real._ He was wide awake (and pinched his arm to be doubly sure), and was now on his way back home to pack all of the things that he may need on board a _spaceship._

This was really happening.

Even without Lui and his crew, Evan might have still ascended through the atmosphere on the sheer happiness he was feeling alone. He was grinning so wide his cheeks hurt, and his chest felt lighter than air, and he was sure that it was impossible for one person to be happier than he was in that moment. In the back of his head, there was a small voice panicking over what he was supposed to pack, and another was worried about how his parents would react to the news, but even that wasn’t enough to sour his good mood.

He was finally given the chance to achieve his dreams, and live the life he had always wanted ever since he was a kid with an overactive imagination. It felt as though his life was finally falling into place, and for the first time ever, he felt confident that this was where he was supposed to be; that this was where he _belonged._ The stars were begging for his presence, and he was finally given the chance to join them.

If he weren’t so worried about making a good first impression on the crew, then he’d run straight back to the ship and tell Randy, his old high school bully who told him that he’d never amount to anything and would never leave Vanossi, to _suck it._


	2. Chapter Two: A Beary Odd Medic

By the time the hour was up, Evan was huffing and panting from his sprint back to the ship with a single bulging duffel bag in his arms. He hadn’t wasted any time in packing, and crammed almost everything he could think of into his only available suitcase. Of course, most of the hour had been him explaining to his tear-stricken mother that yes, he was _leaving._ His father had been less than pleased to hear that he had abandoned his post, and was even more disgruntled when he found out the reason _why._

 

Both of their minds changed for the better once Evan broke the news to them that he had been hired to work on a ship, and his mother had been quick to begin crying tears of joy. His mom had always been more supportive of his dream than his father was, and the news that her little astronaut was finally getting his chance to chase his dream had made the small woman burst into tears on the spot, much to his dismay. He had spent many minutes trying to console his mother and Mama Fong had quickly began forging a list of reminders for him to keep when he left. Meanwhile, he ran up to his room to pack up… well, _everything._

 

His father had taken it better than he had honestly expected him to. While still in shock of the news, his father had seemed proud of him, and that alone was enough to make a large dopey grin stretch across Evan’s face even now. His father had been critical of his space obsession for as long as he could remember, so to see him break into a smile and support him in pursuing his dream had made his chest light as a cloud.

 

After thirty minutes of nonstop packing (and swearing at the small amount of room inside his duffel bag as he tried to cram in his books and clothes), Evan finally walked down the creaky wood steps for what he recognised would be for the last time for a long, _long_ time. A hug and small talk was exchanged with his father before his sweet, sobbing mess of a mother attacked him around the waist and squeezed him so tightly that he was certain his lungs were going to implode.

 

After a full minute of strangled breathing, a pat on the back, and a big kiss on the cheek, Evan walked out the front door. He strode to the end of their snow-covered yard to the fence at the end of the concrete path while waving back to his parents and promising to write them as soon as he was settled. Once the gate latched shut behind him, he took a deep breath, drawing in the crisp cold air around him as he committed it to memory, understanding that he wouldn’t be back for a _long_ time. He took his time on the walk back to town, observing every house and smiling at every person he passed, even if he didn’t know them. Every step closer to the spaceport felt like he was dragging an anchor by the ankles, which grew heavier the further he walked away from the small, cozy building he _used_ to call home.

 

It wasn’t until the spaceport finally poked out over the heads of the crowds of bustling people that Evan’s snail pace finally faltered.

 

The dull grey two story building never looked so welcoming in Evan’s life. He broke into a wild sprint and rushed through the doors and made a beeline for the gate leading outside. The blazing heat of the interior of the spaceport was replaced with harsh cold winds as Evan treaded lightly through the gate on the other side through the snow, and towards the ship.

 

Lui was standing outside while Arlan and Nogla were nowhere in sight. Evan noticed Randy speaking to Lui by one of the landing legs, and Lui’s arms were crossed with a firm glare set on his face. They seemed to be locked in a tense conversation and he was suddenly worried that now wasn’t the best time to walk over and bother him, as Lui looked ready to bite his head off. Luck was on his side however (for the hundredth time that day), because Lui’s eyes flickered over Randy’s shoulder and caught sight of Evan standing a good dozen or so feet behind them, and actually looked pleased to see him.

 

“Oh great, you made it!” Lui spoke with a smile, an action that told Evan that he was safe to approach. He paused and put his hand on Randy’s shoulder to force him to make eye contact with him. “I’ll continue this conversation with your _boss_ later.”

 

Randy noticeably paled as Lui let go of him and stepped aside to meet Evan as the latter hastily bustled forward to meet Lui by the landing leg of the ship. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting,” Evan worried with an apologetic smile, concerned that the only reason Lui was speaking to Randy was because he had taken too long.

 

An amused smile grew across Lui’s features and he waved off his worries with a small chuckle. “Don’t worry, you made great time,” he turned to the ship and gestured to it proudly, “Shall I introduce you?”

 

The question took Evan by surprise as he didn’t realise someone else was present. He spun on his heel and looked around for the person he was referring to, and Lui couldn’t help but grin at Evan’s obvious confusion. “Uh,” Evan stuttered. “... Are they invisible?”

 

Lui snorted and laughed, and Evan felt his face heat up as he realised the answer was definitely a no. “No, _she’s_ not invisible,” he explained with a grin, stepping backwards until he was under the base of the ship. “You’re standing right in front of her.”

 

Evan blinked then it suddenly dawned on him to what Lui meant. He craned his neck as he peered up at the monstrous metal shape looming over his head. “O-Oh,” he stammered, finally taking in the sheer size of the ship that towered over him like an office building. “... Uh, hi…?”

 

Evan heard a snicker from Randy behind him, but tried to ignore him as Lui patted the landing leg with what Evan could only describe as an affectionate smile on his face. _“This is the Millennium Valkyrie, Mark II.”_

 

There was never a name that sounded more magnificent to Evan than that. He gaped at the ship with a newfound wave of awe and couldn’t help but take in every curve and every inch of the underbelly of the ship. “She’s beautiful,” Evan breathed.

 

Lui grinned with a proud expression on his face. “Made her with my own two hands,” he explained, looking up at the vessel fondly. “...Well, with Nogla’s help, my dad’s blueprints, and the original model.”

 

Evan frowned at the ship’s name as an afterthought occurred to him and peered up at the ship curiously. “Wait, this is the ‘Mark II’? What happened to the first one?”

 

“This _is_ the first one,” Lui replied, not sounding particularly surprised nor offended at Evan’s question, as if he had expected him to ask. “The original was never finished, and was left alone for about seventeen years before it was repaired and completed,” he explained, pausing and smirking. “It didn’t blow up or anything, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” he added as an afterthought.

 

Evan nodded as he took in the newfound knowledge of the vessel’s origins, and continued to ogle at the Valkyrie with amazement. “You did a great job on repairing it; she looks incredible,” he commented softly.

 

“She looks even better on the inside.”

 

Those words made Evan snap to attention instantaneously. He heard the workers behind him suddenly stop talking, and Lui gestured to the ramp leading inside the ship with his hand. “Are you coming?” he asked with a grin.

 

Evan’s heart jumped in his chest, and when he heard commotion behind him he looked back to see Randy, his old bully from high school, gaping at him with his mouth wide open. Evan knew it was a tad bit childish for someone of his age, but he couldn’t help but give him a smug grin before turning and hurrying after Lui. It wasn’t much, but seeing the look on Randy’s face as he realised that Evan had proved him wrong made going into space just a fraction more satisfying than it already was.

 

Evan stopped at the walkway leading inside, and Lui waved for him to follow him up. He was about to set his foot down on the sleek silver metal before a nagging thought at the back of his head stopped him. Evan turned and gazed back at the spaceport. The snow-covered ground was lit with the dim yellow streetlights around him, and he could see the town beyond the gate. Around them there was nothing but empty hills and mountains of ice and snow, and the cold wind bit at his cheeks and nipped at the edge of his nose.

 

This was happening. This was really, _really_ happening.

 

He absorbed it all in, suddenly realising how despite never being truly happy here, he would miss Vanossi D19. Evan would miss the people, the weather, his family, and the isolation, if only for a short while. Evan committed every trait of his home planet to memory before drawing in a deep breath, taking one final glance at the world around him and silently telling it goodbye, then turning on his heel and pressing the bottom of his boot onto the ramp leading into the Valkyrie.

 

Evan’s new life had officially begun.

 

Lui looked over his shoulder to watch Evan as he walked up the ramp, lifting a hand out to gesture to the interior of the Valkyrie. _“Welcome aboard.”_

 

Evan couldn't help but gape as he walked up the slanted walkway. The walls inside were ribbed with dark beams and bright lights flickered on high above their heads. Crates were stacked in large groups that were scattered across the room, and he came to the conclusion that this had to be the cargo bay. Behind him, there was a sort of loading dock that he guessed was to connect itself to another vessel, and a hatch housed a metal ladder that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. A row of ten seats were aligned on the wall adjacent to them, which he guessed were to serve as the crew’s seats while taking off and landing. In the middle of the row was a much larger seat, assumedly for a much larger passenger on the ship. There was a melodic humming sound reverberating around him that faded into mere white noise the longer Evan listened to it.

 

“Hey,” Lui snapped without any malice in his tone, and he knocked on the wall to drag Evan out of his awestruck trance. “There's more than just the cargo bay that you should be drooling over, y’know,” he teased kindly.

 

The tips of Evan’s ears flushed a bright red as he realised that he must have been ogling much longer than he meant to. Lui only chuckled at his facial expression and began walking to the door leading out of the room. As soon as Lui stepped off the walkway, it jolted then began rising up while Evan was still standing on it, making him squeak and hustle to the safety of the inside of the ship’s cargo bay. He felt the cold begin to float away and Evan looked back down, watching with excitement and awe as the grey iceland that he called ‘home’ slowly disappeared from view. There was a pressured hissing sound as the walkway closed and a clank once it was sealed shut, enclosing them both in the warm interior of the Valkyrie.

 

He followed Lui down a short hallway and to the right, and then walked up a small staircase to reach the second level of the ship. They passed by another branching hall and a handful of doors before reaching the end. A large room greeted them at the end of the corridor’s archway, and Evan’s eyes grew wide as Lui proudly gestured out into the vast space before them.

 

“This is the main room.” Evan’s jaw slacked an inch lower than it should have when Lui stepped aside to allow him into the generously sized room.

 

The floor was a dark colored metal with walls that matched the ones in the cargo bay, but a much lighter colour. There was a long table and counters and a desk built into the walls around it. White lights hovered over the counters built into the wall and he spied the edge of an archway around the corner of the room further down on his left. There was another ladder on his right, along with a few more doors that lined a small corridor that went even further ahead. A large glass window took up most of the farthest wall, with a small sitting area in front of it that was granted access by a few metal steps on either side. A curved couch went along the circular shape of the den and a coffee table was set in front of it.

 

Evan smiled softly as he soaked up the warm and welcoming feeling of the room like a sponge. It was definitely different from how his living room back home looked, but he loved it. “It's amazing,” Evan breathed. Lui smiled proudly as he looked up to see Evan’s awestruck face and coffee brown eyes that were lit up with childlike wonder.

 

“You've only been aboard for two minutes and you're _already_ in love?” Lui let out an amused huff of air. “That's a new record.”

 

Lui motioned for Evan to follow him, and he adjusted the strap on his bag as he went. Evan continued to let his eyes wander over every curve and corner of the room as they walked through it. He was positive that his attempts to hide his glee were failing miserably, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

 

It all felt too good to be true, to be hired just like that. A sudden thought crossed his mind and Evan found himself wondering if he had been foolish to accept it after such a brief conversation. His mother definitely wouldn’t have approved if she knew that his initial interview had been only a few minutes long, and he was glad that he had chosen to keep that small detail out of the announcement to his parents.

 

They passed by two doors on the right side of the corridor before they reached the end of the hall. There was a large sliding door at the end that took up nearly the entire wall. Lui picked up the pace so he would reach it first, and it slid open once he got within arm’s reach of the metallic surface. He couldn’t see into the room quite yet, but he caught sight of a large white wall covered by glass so Evan guessed that he was looking out of a windshield of some kind, and the white was in fact snow.

 

“This is the cabin, where _I_ exclusively work,” Lui explained as he strode into the room before turning on his heel to walk to the other side of the room. Evan swallowed his urge to let out a small squeak and clamped his mouth tightly shut as he followed him inside. The _cabin._ He was going into the _ship’s cabin._

 

The room was much smaller than the main room, but it was slightly elongated as it went to the end of the ship’s arm with a large control panel at the end. Two black chairs sat on either end with a bridge branching out from the panel between them, giving each chair its own area of the controls on either side. The walls on both sides and the roof panels were decorated with blinking dials, exposed cords, metal plating, and levers and switches. It gave off a sort of professional yet urban impression, but Evan thought it looked incredible.

 

Lui strode over to the left chair then sat himself down, crossing his leg over his knee and leaning back in his seat. He rested his chin in his hand and swiveled to face the windshield with a soft sigh, watching the snow rush by as the wind howled silently through the thick glass. Evan stood there, lapping up every drop of the comfortable silence like a dog. Lui made no other comment and fiddled with a few of the dials on the panel with his back to him, and the silence dragged on as the soft beeping of the control panel and the faint humming of the ship surrounded him. A slight feeling of unease grew in Evan’s stomach, and he looked around the room nervously. The lack of conversation was making him unsure of what was supposed to happen next. Should he say something? He shuffled his feet as he wondered what exactly he was supposed to be doing before Lui glanced over his shoulder and broke into his thoughts.

 

“What are you waiting for, a formal invitation?” Lui nodded to the chair across from him. “Sit down.”

 

Evan perked up instantly. “O-Oh!” He could feel his face heating up as he became flustered. Lui smiled gently at him as Evan stepped over and took the seat next to him, setting his bag down beside his seat and turning to Lui eagerly.

 

“Alrighty. Well, I think we can go ahead with the background check,” Lui explained. Evan nodded with understanding as his eyes traced over the dashboard with heavy interest. He wanted to press every button and flip every switch, and ask Lui countless questions about what each thing did and how it affected the ship. Lui smirked as he caught the look in Evan’s eyes, and leaned on his hand as he watched him.

 

“You’re enjoying this, huh?”

 

Evan sighed softly with content. “Like you wouldn't believe…” he breathed, reaching out to run his fingers along the edge of the brightly lit dashboard. Lui smiled as Evan gazed at the controls like it was the most interesting thing in the known universe, then lightly gestured to his chair.

 

“That seat you're currently in belongs to my first mate and _your_ future superior, Daithi, but I think you already know him as ‘Nogla’.”

 

Evan blinked and looked down at his seat with sudden awareness. “Oh, I'm sorry! Should I…?” He started to get up, but Lui shook his head and waved for him to stay put.

 

“It's alright. Nogla wouldn't mind; small things like these never bother him,” Lui replied with a reassuring smile. Evan looked at him and nodded, but was still slightly unsure. However, he kept his worries to himself and did his best to stomp them away; he wasn't going to disobey his captain on his first day after all.

 

“So what do we do now?” Evan asked.

 

“Well, first thing’s first; we need to give you a background check to make sure you're ‘clean and trustworthy’ as Arlan put it,” Lui flicked a few switches on the dashboard as he explained it to him, “No offense, but I'd rather not hire someone if they turn out to be a murderer.”

 

Evan nodded his head agreeing with Lui’s words, but the silence was quickly broken at the sound of the door behind them sliding open, and a stranger walked inside as it shut behind him.

 

“Hey, Delirious,” Lui greeted warmly. Evan looked at Lui curiously. _Delirious?_ Evan wasn’t sure if the galaxy had a peculiar dictionary of birth names and he was just uninformed, but to him, someone naming their child ‘Delirious’ seemed _slightly_ abnormal. “This is the guy I told you all about. Do you think you could find information on his legal documents for the background check? The name is Evan Fong.”

 

Delirious nodded his head and reached into his black and blue messenger bag to pull out a small handheld tablet. The screen lit up and a small blue holographic screen popped up over the built-in keyboard. "Okay, give me a few seconds?” he muttered, and Lui nodded and waited patiently as he flipped through pages with his index finger at a shocking amount of speed and accuracy.

 

Evan felt his curiosity grow as Delirious chewed a piece of bubblegum in his mouth. He was dressed remarkably different than everyone else; instead of boots, he wore sneakers and instead of a vest or jacket, he had a soft pastel blue hoodie that seemed to be one size too large for his lean body. Small tufts of dark hair poked out from beneath his grey beanie and the glow of the tablet reflected off his eyes, which reminded Evan of the ice glaciers due to its peculiar shade of electric blue. Evan saw a small silver piercing on Delirious’ left brow, which was furrowed as he scrutinised his tablet screen. He looked more like a teenager fresh out of high school rather than a man who was clearly far into his twenties.

 

Delirious tapped the tablet and tilted his head to the side as he read over the contents on the screen. “Evan Fong'. Age 23, birthday is May 31st. Born and raised on Vanossi-D19, graduated from Vanossi Public School in three-thousand-twenty-five, and no criminal record. Employed in over a dozen establishments over the course of two years and most recently quit the occupation of maintenance and miner at a commercial drill,” Lui nodded, and Evan was floored. He managed to find _that_ much about him in just thirty seconds?

 

“One legal marking for driving into an electrical pole when he was eighteen during his driving test, but no evidence of crimes, drugs, nor alcohol abuse. He has a standard shooting license, and a driving license for commercial speeders and vehicles.”

 

Lui nodded his head and seemed satisfied with that. “Schooling information?” he asked gently.

 

Delirious scrolled down and Evan side glanced at Lui with a tinge of nervousness. He hoped that Delirious didn’t have as much skill with searching as he thought he did. “He graduated on honor roll, but has been suspended twice. Once for fighting with a group of seniors, and another for a... _wardrobe malfunction_ during the school's fundraising fair. He was a model student otherwise."

 

Bingo. Evan’s face was flushed a bright shade of red as he lowered his tablet. No one was supposed to know about that, _especially_ not someone he had just met. He had secretly hoped that while joining this crew, he would able to escape the awful memories of high school and put that incident behind him, but he was now sure that this definitely was not the case. If he noticed how flustered he had made Evan, Delirious didn't make any move to acknowledge it.

 

“Is that all?” he asked Lui, slipping his tablet back into his bag as he now focused his attention on the captain.

 

Lui smiled. “That's all, thanks,” He looked up at Evan and nodded. “That's all I needed to hear. Send those records to my files as soon as you're able, okay? Just so I can have them for reference.”

 

“Of course,” he agreed as his eyes drifted towards Evan and they met for a brief moment. Evan was still slightly flustered even after the full exchange and he was positive that Delirious could see it on his face.

 

“Thanks Delirious,” Lui thanked him gratefully, Delirious averted his eyes and focused back on him.

 

“No problem, Lui,” Delirious replied, and turned away from Evan and spun on his heel, silently walking out of the room, and the door slid shut behind him. The cabin went back into a long silence, and Evan dared to look back at Lui.

 

“So… _Who_ exactly was that?” he questioned.

 

Lui smiled. “Delirious is our ship’s librarian and computers expert. He does a lot of behind the scenes work that makes sure the ship is up and running day in and day out. Similar to Brock’s job as the mechanic down in the engine room.”

 

Evan nodded in understanding and glanced back at the closed door. “He’s quiet...” he remarked softly.

 

Lui nodded. “He tends to be... he keeps to himself a lot,” he mused partially to himself, watching the closed door for a moment before turning back to Evan with a smile. “But now that that’s finished… I think it’s time to go.”

 

It took a moment for Evan to fully understand what that meant for him, and the second he realised, his heart all but leaped out of his chest. “Now?” he asked, perking up like an excited puppy as all his previous embarrassment drained away.

 

“Yes, now,” Lui chuckled fondly, and swiveled around in his chair until he was facing the panel behind him again. “Unless you’ve changed your mind…?”

 

“No!” Evan exclaimed in a panic, and it wasn’t until after he denied that theory that he noticed Lui’s teasing smirk and realised that he was merely messing with him. “No... no, I still want this.”

 

Lui giggled again, and gestured for Evan to turn around in his chair and face the panel that he was sitting next to. “That’s good, because Nogla isn’t here right now, and I need a co-pilot to help me get this thing off the ground.”

 

For the umpteenth time that day, Evan’s heart stopped. Lui wasn’t seriously suggesting that he help him _fly_ the ship, was he?! Surely he wasn’t qualified enough for that. “You… want me to be your copilot?” Evan asked unsure, and gently ran his fingers over the control panel again, eyeing up the plethora of switches and dials that he couldn’t even begin to guess the functions of. “Can I do that?”

 

“Nope,” Lui said bluntly, and Evan came crashing back down. “I’m going to put the autopilot on and he’s going to do all the actual flying for you, but I am going to let you press some buttons!” he explained further, and flipped a switch on the panel in between them that caused a red light to illuminate on the steering wheel in front of him, signaling that autopilot on his side had been enabled. “Just this once though. I don’t think Nogla would be happy if I replaced him.” He winked.

 

Evan nodded, and conceded that that made a lot more sense. Of course he wasn’t going to actually _fly_ the ship when he wasn’t trained to be a pilot, but even being allowed to help out in such a small way was much more than he was ever expecting, and was something he considered so far outside of the realm of possibility that he never even fantasised about it. To say he was excited would be under exaggerating.

 

As Evan waited for further instruction as to what he needed to do, he watched as Lui flicked more switches and twisted dials, adjusting and readjusting various inputs on his side of the cockpit while the autopilot took care of those adjustments for him on his side. Once everything was prepped, Lui gestured for him to tug on a lever on the panel between them while Lui mimicked him with another lever directly next to it, and once both levers were pressed down, the ship hummed to life.

 

It was much quieter than he expected it to be and the sound of the engine easily faded into the background like white noise, unlike the sound of his beating heart that was now thumping loudly in his chest. The moment he had been waiting his entire life for was finally here, and it was hard for him not to get swept up in the excitement of it all. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Lui smirking at his childlike wonder, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was finally going to space.

 

Lightly chuckling at his reaction, Lui turned his attention to a touch screen that was in the centre of the main console and began tapping away, and in a matter of seconds, a satellite image of the outside of a huge space station appeared on the screen with its exact coordinates. A small message box popped up asking to confirm the ship’s destination, and once Lui gave the okay, their course was set.

 

“You should buckle up,” Lui told him absentmindedly as he brought up a new menu on the touch screen with one hand, and grabbed his seatbelt with the other like he had done many times before.

 

Evan felt around the edges of his seat until he found both halves of the seat belt and pulled them around until they buckled together in an ‘X’ shape over his shoulders and across his chest. He had to loosen the straps slightly as it was adjusted for someone much skinnier and scrawnier than he was and it felt a little too tight to breathe comfortably, but Lui assured him that Nogla wouldn’t mind.

 

As he was strapping himself in, Lui brought up security footage of what looked like the cargo bay on the small screen, and this particular camera angle was focused on the row of seats that the rest of the crew had buckled themselves into. Evan could only recognise Nogla, Arlan, and Delirious out of the nine heads he counted, and the others were all a tad too far away for him to get a good look at them. There was one man who was wearing some kind of white mask or helmet, but it was too far for him to make out what it was. They were all seated and ready to go with the exception of one man who was still making his way towards one of the empty seats.

 

Lui grunted in annoyance when he saw him, and spoke into the intercom. “Hurry up, Marcel!” he called down the microphone in a firm tone, but Marcel merely flipped off the camera before finally sitting down at the far end of the row. Lui waited until he was buckled in before turning back to Evan. “Ready?” he asked with a smile that Evan easily returned, and he nodded in response.

 

There were butterflies in his stomach from a mixture of excitement and nerves, but Evan didn’t let that get in the way of him helping press some more buttons as Lui a made a few more last second adjustments before he gripped the steering wheel and finally began to take off.

 

The ship jolted slightly as it slowly started to raise off the ground, and Evan quickly grabbed onto his armrests for support, not wanting to touch the steering wheel on his side as the autopilot had taken control of it. His eyes were fixed on the view out the windshield, and he watched as the spaceport sank as they slowly raised above it and flew higher and higher. The town looked so small, like a toy model, and he could only barely make out the tiny dots of people, and it all looked and felt so surreal. He had dreamt of this moment for so long, and now that he was here, he could hardly believe that it was happening.

 

Lui jiggled the spaceship equivalent of a gear stick, and instead of ascending straight up, the ship began to move forward. The front of the ship tilted upwards as they began the climb up and out of the planet’s atmosphere, and Evan could feel himself press back into his seat as the ship began speeding up. He had never been in a vehicle that moved this fast before and he gripped onto the armrests tightly as his heart began thumping hard in his chest and adrenaline rushed through him. He glanced at Lui out of the corner of his eye who didn’t seem to be reacting at all as he had long since grown used to flying, and Evan wondered how long it would take for this to become the norm for him as well.

 

The night sky seemed to only get darker as they travelled upwards until they broke through the atmosphere and it became the darkest black that Evan had ever seen, but the stars grew brighter and more plentiful in number and filled the otherwise empty expanse. They twinkled and sparkled all around them, and wrapped their ship in a blanket of glittering lights that stretched as far as the eye could see. The usually tiny dots of the other nearby planets in his system were much larger this close up, and their neighbour Vanossi D18 was now the size of an iced golf ball, while Vanossi D14 through D17 were pastel blue marbles suspended in space. His own home planet beneath him was an equally breathtaking sight with it’s brilliant snow covered lands and pale blue ice covered oceans, and the atmosphere gave the planet a faint blue glow that Evan never thought he’d see in person.

 

The stars, the planets, the sheer nothingness in between left him speechless and he had never felt so _small._ Vanossi D19, his home planet, was the smallest in the sector, and Evan was a mere _pinprick_ in comparison. He had always known that the universe was incredibly wide and expansive, but it wasn’t until he left his planet that the sheer size of the galaxy was finally put into perspective. He was so tiny and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and was nothing but a crumb in comparison, and that realisation had him shrinking in his chair as he struggled to take it all in.

 

It was difficult not to be overwhelmed with emotion as his eyes took in every little star and blinking light around him, and while they all looked different from up here, he could still spot a few familiar constellations here and there. There was Squalus Major to his left, and of course Squalus Minor was right next to it as always, meaning that Passer was somewhere behind him, and if his nine year old self knew that he’d one day be looking at Noctua from an actual _spaceship,_ then maybe the bullying he’d received at school wouldn’t have been so bad.

 

It felt as though his entire life had lead to this moment, and it was all so worth it. He had spent years and years dreaming of this exact experience, and it lived up to all of his expectations and surpassed them, and it was so satisfying and relieving to know that all his hopeless wishing wasn’t for naught. Finally, after all these years of longing, he achieved the one thing he had wanted most in life, and he was so moved by what he finally saw that it almost brought him to tears. If it weren’t for the fact that Lui was sitting next to him, then he might have allowed himself to cry.

 

Evan was so wrapped up in ogling the stars that he honestly forgot that Lui was in the room with him. He risked a glance in his direction only to find that he was no longer controlling the flightpath of the ship and let the autopilot take over completely, and was instead pouring all of his attention into watching him with an amused grin on his face, and Evan suddenly felt self conscious and embarrassed by how entranced he must have looked. He felt like he should say something about how he was feeling, but words were failing him as he was still coming down from that high of seeing space for the first time.

 

“Enjoying that view?” Lui asked him in an amused almost teasing tone, but it didn’t bother him, not really. He had waited so long for this, that he felt it was understandable if it deeply affected and moved him.

 

“Yeah,” Evan replied breathlessly, not managing much more than that, and turned his attention back to the wide array of stars that they were slowly travelling through. Evan suspected that they weren’t moving slowly at all, but the stars were so far away that they floated past them at a snail’s pace, and the ship was so steady that it didn’t feel like it was moving at all.

 

“You’ll get used to it,” Lui told him and reached over the center console to clap him on the shoulder, and that was something he never thought would be possible. It was hard for him to believe that this view was going to become a normal everyday thing for him one day, and part of him hoped that it never would. He never wanted to get used to this, if it meant experiencing this awestruck feeling every time he looked out a window.

 

As Evan continued to admire the view, Lui unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up, taking a moment to stretch before speaking again. “I hate to interrupt, but there’s plenty of other things that you need to do today other than stare out a window,” he lightly teased, gently nudging him. “Like getting settled in to your new home.”

 

_’New home’._ Those two words were enough to cause another flutter in his chest, and he finally tore his gaze away from the stars long enough to smile at Lui. “That sounds great,” he said sincerely, and unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up as well, easily towering over him. He grabbed his bag from where he dropped it on the floor when he first sat down and slung it over his shoulder again.

 

“Come on,” Lui said, and waved for him to follow him out of the cockpit. “There’ll be plenty of time to gawk at space later. There’s some windows in the main room you can stare out of any time you like,” he added with a wink, but Evan still couldn’t help but steal one last glimpse at the stars through the windshield behind him before he followed him out of the room.

 

They had barely stepped into the main room before they heard footsteps echoing along the hallway and Evan looked over to see someone new walk around the corner. Evan recognized him from the security footage earlier, but the view hadn’t given his actual height justice, as he towered over Evan even from this distance. His brown hair was short and there were traces of a beard beginning to show on his jaw. The thick brown army boots clanked along the flooring and Evan took in his appearance with sudden interest. The moss green cargo pants and black leather jacket made him look tough and intimidating, and Evan could see two holsters on either side of his belt, one holding an odd shaped stick while the other carried a gun.

 

The man noticed Lui and him standing there, and ceased walking. Lui smiled and gently nudged Evan’s arm to sort of encourage him to step forward and introduce himself. “Evan passed the background check. We have a new crew member,” he explained calmly. The man’s hazy blue eyes pierced Evan’s and narrowed ever so slightly as he scrutinized him from head to toe. Evan couldn’t help but grin at his new crewmate and excitedly raised his hand and waved it while beaming at him. The crewmate only peered at him as he assessed him silently for many moments, before finally turning away and striding down the hallway on their right.

 

“Cool,”

 

Evan’s previous excitement was extinguished almost instantly. The crewmate hadn’t seemed too pleased to see him, and Evan wondered if he had done something wrong in the way he introduced himself that upset him. Lui had blinked, but didn't seem too surprised at his behavior, and watched him disappear down the corridor before peering up at Evan with a sympathetic smile.

 

“Don't take it personally; he's always like that with new people,” he nudged Evan’s arm and pointed down the hallway they had entered from. “You should head down to the medical bay before anything else so Anthony can give you a check up and mark down your vitals, but after that, you’re free to explore the ship and introduce yourself to the others, but I’m sure they’ll make themselves known to you eventually. We’ll talk about ship rules and guidelines tomorrow when you’re settled. Just don’t be a jerk in the meantime.”

 

Evan nodded in understanding. “Alright,” he complied eagerly, and Lui nodded down the hallway Evan was meant to go down with an encouraging nod of his head, then strode back to the cabin to leave him to his own devices.

 

A nervous breath escaped him as Evan glanced down the hallway, leaning outwards to see the end dozens of feet away, the metal floor abruptly vanishing as the stairs leading down to the lower level began. He reached up and adjusted the strap on his shoulder so his heavy bag wouldn’t suddenly slip off and risk damaging the floor, or his arm for that matter. The metal walls gave his steps a faint echo as he walked down the tiled path, pausing only to look at the few doors he passed by as he strode down the corridor. The first door- which was on Evan’s left- had a faint echoing of voices on the other side, but he had difficulty in understanding what was being said so he didn’t try to think much of it.

 

The other door that was placed perfectly in the middle of the long corridor on his right was eerily silent, but Evan’s attention was quickly drawn to the door near the end of the hall, which was unlike the others and instead had a glossy sheen to it with smooth steel plates decorating it like a complex window pane.

 

He reached out to knock on the beautifully crafted door, but the ship had seemed to already know what he intended to do seconds before he had, because with a gentle hiss the door shifted backwards and slid into the wall gracefully. Warm, golden light poured out of the open doorway and Evan firmly swallowed his nervous energy before walking inside the room.

 

As his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, Evan soon realised that he had walked into what looked to be the ship’s infirmary. A single bed was against the far wall along with some medical equipment and a high tech computer next to it. The walls on either side of him were covered in counters and cabinets holding what he could only guess was medicine of some shape or form, and a marble desk that curved into a right angle was built into the floor, which housed a laptop, a messenger bag, and a fair amount of medical textbooks - the current page giving particularly graphic instructions on how to correctly treat blaster wounds.

 

There were two curtained doorways that were adjacent to one another, but one seemed to be an unseen expansion of the infirmary while the other took up the entire far right corner to shield it from the rest of the room. The wall itself was covered in monitors and screens detailing medical data while the other showed a map of the galaxy with information on the massive space station Evan had seen show up on the computer in the cabin earlier.

 

Evan was interrupted from his quiet exploration of the infirmary when his attention was drawn to the left side of the room. A computer interface was built into the wall so the crew members could communicate to one another from the medical bay, but next to that was an archway that led into what he assumed was the back room. A shadow within shifted and Evan heard a kind voice call out from inside.

 

“Come in, I'm in the back!”

 

Evan moved to reply, but hesitated. Even though he had already met four of his crew members already, he didn’t know this man and suddenly felt nervous now that Lui wasn’t present he was left to fend for himself. However, Lui wasn't going to introduce him to everyone for him, so he took a deep breath and stepped into the back room to introduce himself.

 

It was a storage room, with a dim desk lamp lighting up the area while cabinets, drawers, and counters covered every surface. There was also a large shelf covered with binders, books, and files that were organized by what looked to be both alphabet and by date. A curtain was in place of a door on the right wall, but was open just enough that Evan could see that it was a closed off area for a crewmate’s living quarters.

 

Someone cleared their throat and Evan sharply turned to look at a…. _bear._

 

From the looks of it, a panda. It was standing on its hind legs, dressed in nothing but a snug purple vest that had a galaxy print on it. There was a bamboo necklace hanging from its neck, and a brown leather belt tied around its waist with a fanny pack attached to it. It's oversized, furry paws were gently picking up items in ways that Evan didn't think paws were flexible enough to do, setting them on a small tray in a clumsy yet orderly fashion.

 

Evan bit his lip and shyly cleared his throat to catch the bear’s attention, which instantly made the black ears on its head prick upwards in surprise. It turned its head to face him, and once its large brown eyes settled on him, its mouth curled upwards into a smile, and it opened its mouth, and _spoke._

 

“Oh, hi!” it exclaimed happily.

 

Evan couldn't help but let out a gasp in shock and took a step back in surprise. The panda only tilted its head and looked down at itself, then back at him, seeming to scrutinize his  frightened expression. “Oh… oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to look so intimidating,” it laughed, dropping down onto all fours so it was at Evan’s chest in height. “Judging by that reaction, I'd guess that you haven't had any experiences with my species before,”

 

Evan was still too shocked to speak, but managed a small nod.

 

“That's alright! I'm used to people staring anyways. I'm a _loquitur ailuropoda._ We’re sort of a rarity to come across, so it usually surprises people,” as it spoke, it made a so-so motion with its front paw. “Sorry about the scare again, I didn't realise you were in the room. The whole ‘giant panda’ height tends to freak people out the first time they see me, so I try to stay low to the ground when I'm making a first impression.” it bared its teeth in what Evan assumed was supposed to be a smile. “My name’s Anthony, by the way. Anthony Jiggily.”

 

Evan swallowed nervously. “E-Evan Fong,”

 

Anthony made the same toothy faux-smile and nodded. “Well Evan, do you think you could give me a hand? I have to put your vitals into the ship’s computer so I can find medicine you might need while you're here.”

 

Evan nodded. “S-Sure...”

 

“Great!” Anthony replied cheerfully, standing up to his full height again- and making Evan flinch at the sheer size of him as he towered over him. He picked up the tray with his large front paw and carefully walked past him into the infirmary. “We’re gonna go behind that curtain over there, to give you some privacy. I've already preemptively disable audio monitoring in this room so everything you share or don't share with me will be at your discretion.”

Anthony led Evan out of the backroom and to the room in the corner of the infirmary from earlier. He pulled away the curtain with his other paw and held it open so Evan could walk in. Evan managed a smile, but was still slightly on edge as he walked under his arm. There was a small counter with a chair settled beside it and next to it was an examination table. Anthony turned to the side and shuffled past him to set the tray down before he picked up a tablet on the tray and scrolled through a bright screen with a large paw.

 

He gestured to the equipment on the far wall with his paw as he searched his tablet for a blank form, and then nodded to Evan. “You can go ahead and get yourself set up by the scale. Any heavy clothes or accessories that aren't required should be removed.”

 

Evan nodded then walked over before he dropped his bag and shrugged the warm jacket off his shoulders. The intense heat left him almost immediately and he suppressed the urge to let out a sigh of relief, but it seemed that he didn't need to because when he stepped out of his boots, Anthony chuckled.

 

“It probably feels good to be out of that, huh?”

 

Evan nodded as he adjusted the hem of his black long sleeved shirt that he had worn beneath his thick winter jacket. “It’s just a bit warm. I’m not used to warm temperatures like this; it feels sort of weird.”

 

Anthony turned around holding a clipboard, holding an abnormally large pen stylus in his hand. “That's most likely your body having some trouble adjusting to the sudden increase in temperature. It's normal when you move to places with different climates. Brock, Marcel, and Arlan had a similar problem when they were new too. They came from a desert planet and to them, what you consider warm was freezing for them.”

 

Evan hummed in understanding as Anthony took measurements of his height and weight. Once he wrote down the data, he nodded for Evan to sit on the examination table and leaned back against the countertop? “Okay, I have to ask you some health questions. I'll keep all things confidential, so you don't have to worry about word getting out if you feel uncomfortable about sharing something, but please give me honest answers.”

 

“Sure, no problem,” replied Evan

 

Anthony looked at the questions briefly before speaking up again. “Do you have any allergies? Sinus issues or asthma?” Evan shook his head and he wrote it down. “Medical history with family members? Inherited diseases or health conditions?”

 

“No, I'm clean. My dad has some lung problems, but that’s just from working down in the mines all his life.” Evan explained. “Nothing genetic,” he added.

 

Anthony nodded and wrote something down before asking more questions on his medical history. The next few minutes went on with Anthony asking Evan all sorts of medical questions and him giving what answers he could. As they went on, Evan felt his nervousness slowly but surely melt away. As much as he startled him before, it quickly became apparent that Anthony was completely harmless. He had a very kind voice and a very interesting laugh, but Evan found it likable. He hadn't expected to meet his first alien so early on, but he was glad that the first interaction was more than pleasant. Anthony seemed nice, and he didn't mind the idea of this being the person who treated him if he were to get sick or injured while on the _Valkyrie._

 

However, while Daithi, Lui, and eventually Arlan had been _nice,_ he was still on the fence about whether Delirious or that tall crew ate actually _liked_ him. Delirious seemed indifferent, but Evan could sense there was a small fraction of distrust between them that hopefully he could fix that in the coming days. He didn’t know where he stood with the mysterious tall crewmate in the main room, but Anthony seemed genuinely happy and excited to meet him. _They must not get new crew members often_ was what he had concluded. Anthony was more than kind to him, and it gave Evan a small fraction of hope that there was at least three people on board who enjoyed his company.

 

“Alright, well that's all I have to ask. Do you have any questions that you want to ask me before we move on?” Anthony inquired warmly.

 

Evan shook his head “I don’t think so, no.”

 

That odd, animalistic smile appeared again. “Well if you ever do need help or have a question about something health related, don’t be afraid to come ask me, okay?” Evan smiled and nodded.

 

“Are we almost done, then?” Evan asked. Anthony picked up the stethoscope and walk over.

 

“Not yet. I still have to listen to your heartbeat, check your eyes, and take some blood for cholesterol tests and the blood bank.”

 

“Oh, okay!” he paused. “Um…. are you… able to do that?” Evan eyed Anthony’s large paws nervously.

 

Anthony looked down and chuckled as he waved his paw. “Because of these?” Evan silently nodded and his ears twitched in amusement. “I have special tools for these kinds of things. I won't be fumbling with a tiny needle if that's what you're worried about. The needle will be the same size, but the tool itself will be larger than normal to accommodate for my larger hands.”

 

Evan relaxed at the reassurance and sat up straight as Anthony placed the tray beside him.

 

He watched Anthony hook the stethoscope over his large black ears and leaned closer. “Deep inhale, please,” he instructed. Evan took in a deep gulp of air, but he couldn't help but let out a small gasp as the cold metal slipped under the hem of his shirt and pressed against his bare skin. While he was used to the cold, his body was still warm to the touch and the metal sent a chill up his spine. Anthony smirked slightly, but kept his eyes focused and listened to Evan’s heartbeat. His ears twitched slightly as they listened to something that Evan couldn't hear, and he shifted it to another part of his diaphragm.

 

“You have very steady heartbeat,” he concluded. He slipped the stethoscope out from under Evan’s shirt and prepped his other examination tools. “Although I am picking up some signs of anxiousness from you. Is something wrong?”

 

Evan shook his head in slight surprise. He didn't realize Anthony’s senses were advanced. “No, I feel fine,” he rubbed the back of his neck as a thought came to mind. “I mean, it could be because...”

 

Anthony narrowed his eyes, then smiled while gesturing down at himself. “Because of the whole bear thing?” he finished with an amused chuckle. “I promise I don't bite. I'm one of the good guys,”

 

“No, no! I know you're good!” Evan exclaimed quickly. Anthony lifted an invisible eyebrow skeptically. “I-I mean, I know you're good. I just… I've never met an alien before, so… it caught me by surprise.”

 

Anthony’s face softened as he walked over with the tray for measuring his blood pressure. “I am sorry for startling you before. I hope that you find me not as threatening as before…?”

 

Evan smiled as Anthony tied up the velcro strap. “You're not. I just got scared, that's all.” he bit his lip. “I'm just… nervous about joining the crew, I guess.”

 

Anthony tilted his head curiously. “Nervous? Why?”

 

Evan hesitated while his blood pressure was taken and sighed. “People usually don’t like me, mostly because of my obsession with astronomy and space travel. Usually people can find my rambling really…annoying. I just… I don't want you guys to see me as being a nuisance or intrusive to the group you already have.”

 

Anthony chuckled and put one paw on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We’d never think that. I know it can be kind of intimidating during the first few days, but everyone here is really nice. You'll make friends in no time.”

 

Evan smiled at that. “Thanks, Anthony. That helps a lot,”

 

“Glad to help,” Anthony replied cheerfully. He took off the velcro and stepped back. “If you'd want someone to help break the ice, I can introduce you to some of the guys?”

 

A grateful smile stretched across Evan’s face. “That’d be great actually! Thank you...you're a good friend,”

 

Another toothy smile showed on Anthony’s face as he seemed to glow at the compliment. turned his back to him. “Don’t mention it,” He smiled at him and moved to walk back over to him when Evan had a sudden thought. If Anthony knew everyone, perhaps that could give some insight on that mysterious crew mate who gave him the stink eye before.

 

“Actually, Anthony, if you could help me answer a question I'd greatly appreciate it?”

 

“Shoot,” Anthony replied as he picked up a tray with his paw and carefully stomped back over to the table.

 

Evan chewed his lip and looked at his feet before glancing back at him. “...Do you know the really tall guy, with the green pants and black jacket?”

 

“Tyler?” Anthony asked, looking down to find his vein on his forearm when Evan nodded. “Yeah, he's one of my closest friends on the ship. Why do you ask?”

 

“Yeah. Well, our first meeting felt a bit….tense,” Evan confessed. Anthony knitted his brow and peered at Evan suspiciously.

 

“Tense?” he repeated. Evan rolled up his sleeve to expose his forearm, and he got a small cotton ball off the tray and dipped it in medicine.

 

“Yeah, he seemed pretty distant and looked like he didn't want anything to do with me. When he saw me in the main room, he just stared at me and didn't really say anything, but then gave me some weird _glare,_ said ‘cool’, and walked off. I don't know if I pissed him off or something and it's making me kind of nervous.”

 

Anthony muttered something under his breath, but gave Evan a sympathetic smile as he finished putting rubbing alcohol on his arm. “Tyler is definitely a piece of work, but he's not mean-spirited. He cares about us crewmates and feels protective over those of us who can't defend ourselves as well as he could, so he's probably just a bit suspicious of you. It's just a precautionary unconscious response, don't take it personally; he does that whenever he meets anyone new.”

 

Evan nodded as his nerves settled. That gave him some reassurance at the very least, and he was grateful for that.

 

Anthony hummed gratefully and picked up the syringe. Evan paled at the sight and looked away so he wouldn’t have to watch it pierce his skin. “This _will_ sting, so brace yourself if you have to,” Evan just nodded, and winced as the needle entered his vein. He kept his eyes away from the syringe so he wouldn’t see it in his arm, and took the time to look around the private room. “So…” he began, getting Evan’s attention. “...Vanossi D-19? I’ve been to one of them before today. What’s it like on the surface?”

 

Evan exhaled and spared a glance at him. “Well… it’s cold,” Anthony’s ears fell flat against his head in mild annoyance, making him chuckle. “I mean… I don't know. It’s quiet and pretty uneventful. Everyone knows everybody, and not a lot of exciting things happen.”

 

“Sounds pretty peaceful,” Anthony commented. “I’d give an arm and a leg to get some peace and quiet on this ship.”

 

Evan scoffed as he began to finish drawing his blood. “Trust me, you definitely wouldn't like it there. It’s not as nice as it sounds.” Anthony looked at him curiously as he gingerly removed the needle and bandaged his arm. “Everyone thinks the same, and anything new is usually not exactly welcomed with open arms, so you wouldn't have a nice time solely because of your own appearance.”

 

Anthony frowned as he took great care to see that the vial containing Evan’s blood was tightly sealed before going back to the counter. “I'm going to go out on a limb with this and guess that the ignorance on Vanossi is the reason our leave was delayed. Am I right?”

 

“Yeah...” Evan confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck. “People don’t like outsiders coming by. I don’t know why, but they just act like everyone who comes for something other than business is a criminal and doesn’t deserve to be there. Some assholes who I went to school with run the spaceport here, and they watered down the fuel because you guys were ‘stealing’ it, even though you paid for it,” he frowned, “I’m sorry you guys had to put up with that.”

 

Anthony shrugged his shoulders as he opened a small box and inserted the vial into it before disposing of the syringe and washing his paws in the sink. “It's alright, we've dealt with worse. I don't envy your childhood though; from the sounds of it those guys had to have been some kind of bullies.”

 

Evan exhaled and looked down. “Understatement of the century,”

 

Anthony chuckled and made sure the vial was tucked away before turning back to Evan. “Well, I think you're done!” As he spoke, he opened a small drawer in the counter and pulled out a small, red lollipop. “Here is your prize for being such a good patient!”

 

Evan lifted his brow in slight surprise and took the sucker hesitantly. “A lollipop?” He gave Anthony a small smirk. “Really?”

 

Anthony’s ears twitched indignantly and he huffed. “No one likes doctor visits, I just try to make it a _little_ more rewarding for the patients.” Evan stifled a small laugh, but took the candy regardless and put it in his pocket for later.

 

Anthony seemed to be satisfied with that, and motioned for him to hop off the desk. Evan reached down and picked up his winter jacket, folding it over his arm and tucking it into his duffel bag, but leaving his black long sleeved shirt on. Anthony got onto his hind legs and walked carefully out of the small room and gingerly brought the tray over to the desk at the center of the sprout.

 

“I'll get to work on setting up your blood bank and files later. But for now let’s go introduce you to Marcel and the others. I’m sure he’d love to meet you,”

 

Evan smiled and nodded, picking up his bag and hoisting it over his shoulder. “Whatever you think is best. Thanks again for doing this.”

 

Anthony smiled down at him as he set down his tablet. “No problem.” He walked around the counter and walked out the infirmary. “Now let’s go introduce you to some people!”

 

Anthony got down on all fours and padded out into the hallway with Evan close behind, and hummed quietly to himself as he walked down the corridor in the direction that led back to the main room. The halls were narrow so Evan had to walk behind him instead of beside him, but it was easy to keep up with the bear’s pace. They passed the door on the left before Anthony stopped outside the last door on the right- which was now quiet with no voices present- before the open space, and knocked with his paw. There was a few seconds of silence and he frowned before opening the door and peering inside.

 

“Huh… I thought he was in here just a few minutes ago…?” Antony wondered aloud, looking at Evan apologetically. “Sorry, I guess we have to go on a small scavenger hunt.”

 

Evan smiled and waved his hand. “I don’t mind, it’s alright,” Although curiosity got the best of him and he gestured to the now closed door. “…Is this his bedroom?”

 

Anthony brightened, and nodded. “Yep. Scotty and Marcel share this bunkroom, then the one behind you is shared by Tyler and Arlan, then the one just past the medical bay is Jonathan’s,”

 

The new name sounded unfamiliar to Evan, but before he could ask who Jonathan was, a new voice piped up from the main room.

 

“Anthony? Is that you?”

 

Anthony’s ears perked up, and he barred his teeth in a smile. “Yeah, it’s me! We were just looking for you,” he turned back to Evan and nodded to the room with his head encouragingly. “Come on, they’re both out here! I’ll introduce you.”

 

Evan swallowed. Nerves were prickling his skin and the realization that he was about to go meet two strangers, his new crewmates, for the first time was sending shivers of fear down his spine. Anthony seemed to sense his worry because he gently nudged him with his body. “You’ll be fine; they’re nice guys,” he said softly, smiling at him, and Evan finally broke into a hesitant, nervous smile.

 

He stepped forward and Evan tagged along with him, and the latter felt a pang of worry go through him as he walked around the corner and laid his eyes on the two men who were seated at the table. One of them he recognized from the video feed when he was in the cabin while the ship took off, and realised that meant this was Marcel, and the other man looked familiar from the video, but Evan didn’t know his name.

 

Marcel glanced at Anthony and Evan and broke into a smile. “You brought company?”

 

“Yes, I'm introducing him. He’s nervous, Marcel! Be nice,” he chided, and Marcel put his hands up in a surrendering motion.

 

“I didn’t even say anything!” he snapped with an amused look on his face, but Anthony only scoffed and shook his head, giving Evan an apologetic look.

 

_“Evan,_ this is one of your superiors.”

 

“H-Hi…” Evan greeted shyly, waving his hand a little to say hello. Marcel smirked at him and cocked his eyebrow. “Um, I think I’ve already seen you. You’re the guy who flipped off the captain when we were taking off, right?”

 

The unnamed man snorted and broke into laughter while Anthony belted out a loud laugh as it was Marcel’s turn to blush.

 

“…Y-You mean you saw that?” he said hesitantly. Evan grinned and nodded, and Marcel covered his face with his hand, swearing under his breath as the man across from him continued chuckling.

 

“Nice first impression, Marcel!” he teased, and Marcel retorted by flipping him off.

 

“Shut up!” he scowled, and then looked back at them while Anthony led Evan to the table. “…Well, so much for introducing myself,” his frown faded and he smiled as Anthony sat down next to him at the end of the table, on the floor since he was too large for the seats. Evan sat down directly across from him, next to the stranger who was still chuckling to himself. “I’m Marcel. Marcel Idowrk,” he greeted, offering his hand to Evan and smiling apologetically. “I guess from how you saw me the first time you can probably tell that me and Anthony are polar opposites.”

 

_“Someone_ needs to balance out your bullcrap,” Anthony snapped, but Evan still smiled and shook his hand politely.

 

“Evan Fong.” he replied softly.

 

Marcel smiled at him as Evan took his duffel bag off his shoulders and set it beside him on the floor. “Are you liking the Valkyrie so far?”

 

“Yeah,” Evan quickly confirmed with a bright smile, finally calm after given a topic he knew he could easily talk about. “It’s amazing!”

 

Marcel grinned and nodded his head, “I’m glad. It’s chaos, but it’s home,” He turned to Anthony and gave him a coy grin, “Is that better, _Mom?”_

 

A loud groan was heard and Anthony smacked Marcel’s shoulder with a paw while giving him an exasperated look. “I want to make him feel _welcome,_ not like he walked into a family reunion!” Marcel only grinned and he glared back, and Evan noted that the two of them had a friendship that was reminiscent of siblings.

 

The man beside Evan cleared his throat, and he jumped as he had forgotten that the man was there for a brief moment. “If the married couple is done arguing, I’d like to be introduced, thank you.”

 

“Scott,” Anthony said firmly, barring his teeth slightly. “Don’t you even start.” Scott laughed to himself and Anthony gestured to him with his paw. _“That_ would be Scott Foziero.”

 

“I go by ‘Scotty’ too. Either one is fine,” Scotty said cheerfully, smiling at Evan. “Your resident alien hacker at your service.”

 

“Alien?” Evan repeated, suddenly shocked. Scotty wasn't human? He definitely looked like one, but maybe he had been mistaken. If that was the case that meant he had _two_ alien crew members on the ship, and that alone made his poor heart jump with glee.

 

Scotty smiled and gave him a thumbs up while reaching over to pick up the red mug holding a thick, caramel colored beverage. “Mmhm,” he merely hummed in response.

 

“Scotty’s a Torothian,” Marcel explained helpfully, then paused in thought. “…Did you not get a lot of aliens back in the Vanossi system?”

 

“No!” Evan exclaimed in surprise, looking at Scotty with newfound awe. “I heard about hundreds of them, but I’ve never seen one in real life before. We were a humans-only civilisation. A lot of the people on my planet specifically were um… well, they were…”

 

“Xenophobic,” Anthony finished, looking at Marcel sadly. “That’s why we got held up. Some assholes watered down our fuel because we were ‘offworlders’.”

 

“Seriously?” Marcel repeated, lowering his cup from his mouth. _“That’s_ why Brock is working his ass off down in the engine room? Because some dude thought it’d be funny to prank some people from another system?” His eyes seemed to grow alight with an unseen fire, and Scotty and Anthony both seemed to sense it at the same time.

 

Anthony worriedly put a paw on his back and patted it to calm him down, and Scotty sighed heavily and turned to Marcel. “Just let it go, buddy. We won’t be seeing them for a while anyways. I’m sure Lui and Arlan both gave them a good talking to regardless.”

 

Marcel grumbled and crossed his arms while Anthony quietly spoke to him in an attempt to keep him calm, and Scotty finally looked at Evan.

 

“I’ve never seen a Torothian up close before,” Evan said quietly, slightly nervous to make eye contact. “I only heard about them in history books, and I thought they never really left their solar system?”

 

“We don’t _normally,”_ Scotty explained, running his finger over the rim of his mug as he stared out the large glass window that showed a dark void filled with stars. “I’m an exception, since I had to leave for… personal reasons.”

 

“Personal reasons?” Evan asked in confusion. “…Wait, isn’t Toroth run by a totalitarian gov-“

 

“Look, um, Evan, you seem really nice, and I like you, I really do,” Scotty interrupted with a sad smile. “But it’s a bit of a touchy subject for me still, and I don’t really like talking about _why_ I left. I just did.”

 

“Oh…” Evan replied softly, wincing and looking away guiltily. “…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories…”

 

“It’s okay, how could you have possibly known anyways?” Scotty assured with a smile. “You can still ask me about my species though, if you’d like? I’d just rather not answer any questions about my past. That’s a chapter of my life I’d rather not get into, at least not yet,”

 

“That’s alright, I respect that,” Evan replied kindly. He looked at Scotty’s shoulders and bit his lip. “…Could I take you up on that offer later? I feel like my textbooks have done a poor job of explaining how Torothians are built.”

 

Scotty smirked, and nodded. “How about later once you’re all settled in, we can chill and I can quiz you on what you know.” Evan nodded eagerly, and Scotty smiled. “Well, now that the topic of my species is out of the way, let’s talk about you.”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes, you. You’re the new guy, right?” Scotty replied in amusement.

 

Evan looked down at his hands nervously. He could feel his eyes on him as he sat there, and twiddled with his thumbs on the surface of the table. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

 

Marcel finally looked up and smirked as he observed his facial expression. “I know that look. You’re feeling a bit out of place, don’t you?” Evan didn’t verbally reply, but lifted his gaze and nodded softly. Marcel gave him a patient smile. “Don’t let it get you down. You’ll adjust before you know it. Everyone goes through that stage when you feel like the black sheep in a herd. It’ll pass within a week, don’t worry.”

 

“We don’t bite,” Scotty assured.

 

“Well… _I_ don’t,” Marcel interrupted while sending a teasing smile in Scotty’s direction. “I don’t know for certain if _he_ does or not, though.”

 

“Fuck you,” Scotty snapped dully, taking another sip of his drink.

 

“What do you guys do on the ship?” Evan queried, “If you don't mind me asking, that is.” Scotty looked at Marcel over the rim of his mug and nodded his head for him to answer first.

 

“Muscle,” Marcel replied briefly. Evan blinked and Marcel elaborated when he appeared slightly confused, “Fighting, heavy duty jobs. Physical stuff, y’know?”

 

Evan nodded in understanding and turned when Scotty set down his mug. “I do computers. Mostly hacking and basic recalibration, but I go out on the field a lot,” he gestured to the space between him and Marcel, “Marcel and I tend to share each other's jobs. We teach each other,” Scotty added.

 

“Yeah, but I’m still a lot fucking stronger than you,” Marcel bragged with a smile, “Stop trying to make yourself look good in front of the new guy, it’s not gonna help when he sees how much of a fuckboy you are!” Scotty flipped him off again while Marcel laughed at his expression. Anthony took that moment to send Evan a sympathetic look, but he didn’t mind.

 

He was still much too excited about it all to even really notice the lighthearted arguing. Marcel and Scotty both appeared to be very close but seemed to be very nice people. Evan’s heart swelled as he hoped that everyone else would be as welcoming as they would be. If they were, he was sure he was going to be just fine with adjusting to this new life.

 

“Evan?”

 

Evan perked up at the sound of his name from beside him. He veered his head sharply and met Scotty’s cheerful blue eyes. “O-Oh, sorry, what?” he stammered when he realised that he had been lost in his train of thought. Marcel snickered and Anthony shook his head to chide him for laughing.

 

Scotty didn’t seem too surprised and gave him a patient smile. “I said, ‘have you been assigned a job yet?’,” he said.

 

“Hmm... Oh!” Evan straightened in his seat and failed to notice the faint echoing of footsteps behind him. “I don’t think so, no. L-... _the captain_ said that he’d give me a job once he figured out what I’m best at,” He stopped himself before he said ‘Lui’; he still wasn’t quite sure if he had the right to call his captain by his first name. Everyone else seemed to be alright with calling their superiors by their first name, but because he was new, he figured it would be better to play it safe and just refer to them by ranking instead unless told otherwise.

 

“That’s understandable,” Anthony remarked. “Lui usually does that when he recruits a miscellaneous person. He’ll probably give you some general jobs before figuring out where you’re the most skilled, then pro-” he trailed off as he noticed something off to Evan’s right. He grinned and waved his arm. “Oh, Brian! Hey!”

Evan tensed and looked over his shoulder as a figure came walking up the stairs from the lower level. “Hey, Anthony. I heard that you guys were talking about the new…guy,” The man, who was presumably Brian, froze midsentence as he reached the top step and was able to see the new addition to the main room.

 

Evan’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor as he took in the man’s appearance. He was wearing black pants and brown army boots along with a small belt and holster for a pistol. There was a faded, grey-blue shirt that was loose and worn with age covering his torso along with a thick, black leather jacket on top of it all, and the right sleeve was cleanly torn off to show his arm in its entirety.

 

However it wasn’t his fashion that was making Evan speechless; it was his _physical appearance._ His pale skin melded into a stainless silver metal that covered his entire right side. The right shoulder and arm was made entirely of steel, and he could see from the wires and small pockets of space in between that it was indeed real. The right half of his face was covered with a metal plate, curling over his brow and going to the top of his forehead where his ash brown hair was swept over to the side with a beard to match. His right eye was also replaced and instead of another entrancing blue iris, there was a grey, metal sphere with an iridescent, red glowing pupil that was swiveling across Evan’s appearance. It flickered and there was a barely noticeable sound of mechanical whirring as it rotated and shrunk to further take in his appearance.

 

The man smiled and rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand, which still seemed to be organic. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that you’re Evan.” There was an unfamiliar accent in his voice, and it sounded fairly similar to Daithi’s. Evan wondered if they happened to come from the same solar system, but decided not to dwell too hard on it.

 

Evan nodded and made a point to keep his mouth shut until he was asked. He had never seen someone like this before, and it baffled him, and he was slightly scared that he'd say something he’d regret. “Yeah, that’s me,” he replied.

 

The man smiled softly and nodded. “I’m Brian, it’s nice to meet you,” he strode over to the table and sat down at the edge of the bench next to Evan, “Lui told us about you.”

 

"It's nice to meet you too," Evan greeted happily.

 

Brian smiled at him and side glanced at Scotty and Marcel. "Did these two fuckboys tire you out already?"

 

"Oh fuck off, Brian!" Marcel quipped. "We're irresistible!"

 

Brian scoffed. _"Irresistible._ Right, that's the word to describe you two..." Marcel grumbled something under his breathe and Scotty rolled his eyes playfully.

 

"Anyways... Brian, how are things doing down under?" Anthony asked curiously.

Brian waved his hand in a so-so motion and shrugged. "Meh, it's been better. The engine has been giving Brock some trouble because of the fuel sabotage; he's been working on it all day," he frowned as he paused, "I hope he manages to fix it before it gets too late. The last thing he needs is another all nighter."

 

"I concur," Anthony agreed, frowning. “That guy needs more rest than all of us combined, he’s got a 24-hour job.”

 

Evan knitted his brow as he ran the name over in his head. "Brock?"

 

"Oh, Brock's the mechanic of the ship. He works down in the engine room," Anthony quickly explained, "Brian helps him out, and helps me with some medical procedures when I need an extra pair of hands."

 

"Or a singular hand and a robotic counterpart," Brian corrected with a small smile.

 

Anthony chuckled, "Right, or a robotic hand."

 

Evan blinked and looked at Brian curiously. "...You're robotic?"

 

Brian side glanced at Evan and nodded his head after a slight hesitation. There was a slight clanking of metal far off in the distance, presumably natural sounds of the vessel, as the ship gently hummed around them. Brian looked down at his robotic arm and tapped the table with his steel digits. "Yeah, I... I'm a cyborg."

 

Evan froze, his eyes widening in surprise. "You're a _cyborg?"_ he asked in slight disbelief.

 

The clanking stopped as Brian looked suddenly apprehensive. He chewed his lip by a fraction and gave Evan a small sheepish look. "Um... yeah…."

 

Evan's smile grew as the information sunk in. "...That's _amazing!_ " he bounced a little in his seat with excitement. "Oh- Oh my gosh, I've never met a cybernetic person, let alone seen one in real life before!" Evan shuffled closer and almost reached out to touch Brian's shoulder but pulled back nervously before he did so. "T-That's so cool!"

 

Brian was looking at him with slight surprise, and Evan felt his insecurity boil to the surface. He had been _way_ too energetic and got carried away. _Again._ Evan frowned and pulled away nervously. Great, it was his _first_ meeting with a cyborg, and he fucking blew it because he lost his self control. "I'm sorry..." he apologized quickly, wincing as he realized how uncomfortable he must have made Brian. "I can get carried away with space stuff really easily."

 

Brian blinked and gave him a small smile. "It's alright, I don't mind," he grinned with amusement. "I'm guessing you've never met a cyborg before...?"

 

"No, I haven't," Evan marveled. "The only times I've seen them are from my old textbooks about space travel, and those are _decades_ old," he looked down at his duffel bag, where his multiple old, ragged books were being kept until they found a new shelf to call 'home'. Evan looked up at Brian and chewed his lip. "Would you... would it be okay if I asked you a couple questions? About being a cyborg, I mean," he held up his hands frantically. "It's okay if you don't want to! If you don't feel comfortable about it, that's perfectly fine!"

 

Brian smirked with amusement and his eyes flickered over Evan's shoulder and hovered there for a moment before smiling and turning to face him again. "I don't mind. What do you want to know?"

 

Evan grinned and shuffled in his seat to face Brian better. "They're just about the technology... so, can you feel things with your robotic arm? Like is there a functioning nervous system?"

 

"To a certain extent, yeah," Brian held out his arm and Evan lightly touched it with his fingers. It was cool to the touch and was polished smooth with some small dents here and there from months, probably years, of use. "I can't feel pain or anything, but when I have to do things like meld wires together or fix something closer to where it meets the rest of my body, it can hurt pretty badly."

 

Evan nodded and looked up and examined his red luminescent eye closer. "Can you see in infrared or thermal vision with your robot eye?"

 

Brian scoffed and his robotic eye narrowed to the size of a pinprick. "No, but I can zoom in pretty far," his organic eye squinted as he focused on something, and Brian smirked at Evan. "Anthony, you have a stray white hair under your eye."

 

Anthony stiffened from all the way across the table and reached up to brush the invisible lash off his muzzle. "Show off..." he muttered as Brian grinned coyly at him.

 

Evan smiled shyly and continued to ask Brian a few more questions while he sat there with his newfound crewmates. It excited him knowing that he would be working with a cyborg in his new life, and Brian seemed like a very nice man. He was patient but witty, a bit more so than Anthony was, but was similar to him in a few ways. He liked him, and Evan was comforted with the idea that Brian liked him as well. If everyone was as kind and welcoming as everyone he had met already were, he didn't doubt that the few others he had yet to meet were just as friendly.

 

Evan was so wrapped up in his excitement and newfound friendships that he didn't even notice that someone else had entered the room and was watching him from afar. The man crossed his arms and leaned against the wall as he kept his focus entirely on Brian and Evan. He watched Evan intensely and looked back at Brian, examining his features for any sign of discomfort or ill-feelings. Brian looked up and blinked as he made eye contact with the stranger. He smiled softly and the stranger smiled back, quietly waving at him. He turned back and disappeared around the corner, satisfied with what he had just seen occur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the second part of the first chapter! Next Saturday we'll have the final part of the first chapter when we'll introduce the rest of the main characters, so look forward to that ;)
> 
> That's it for now, and we hope you enjoyed <3
> 
> Follow us on tumblr if you'd like:
> 
> Jay: http://jaysketchin.tumblr.com  
> Caora: http://brocksnuckel.tumblr.com
> 
> \- Jay & Caora <3


	3. Chapter Three: Close Encounters with the Nerd Kind

The Valkyrie wasn’t terribly difficult to navigate- or so he was told- but Evan was still worried that he’d somehow manage to get lost now that he was wandering around by himself. While they were talking, Brian  _ insisted _ that he head downstairs to the engine room and introduce himself to Brock as if it was the most important thing Evan could do that day. He then promptly pushed him towards the nearest staircase and give him directions. Brian told him that the lower corridors were mostly in a straight line with few doors and everything was appropriately signed, and so the engine room should be relatively easy to find, but Evan still had his doubts. It wasn’t that he had a bad sense of direction or was prone to getting lost, he just didn’t want to risk wandering into a room that was off limits by accident and get himself into trouble with his new crewmates already.

 

He was at least somewhat comforted by the fact that the corridors looked exactly as Brian described them. They were long and narrow, with just enough room for two people to walk side by side, and the entire interior was made from a smooth, dull steel. The roof and walls were composed of metal panels that were bolted down to cover the wiring that ran through the ship, and intercoms were spaced out periodically for easy contact with other parts of the ship. His boots clanged on the black steel floor every time he took a step, and the sound occasionally sounded hollow when he stepped on one of the empty storage areas built into the floor. There were only two doors along the first stretch of hallway; one leading to a broom closet and the other to the armory. He was curious about the contents of both rooms, but decided against poking around in there without permission. 

 

At the end of the hallway, there was a ladder in the left corner that lead back upstairs and seemed to stretch all the way up to a hatch leading to the roof of the ship, then the hallway continued on to his right towards the staircase that Lui lead him up when he first boarded. Before that however, Evan was immediately met with another two doors that were almost directly opposite each other, and if the signs were correct, the one to his right lead to the engine room. The other housed something called ‘the Archives’ which was a curious sounding room that Evan couldn’t begin to guess the purpose of, but he could hear voices inside (one of which sounded suspiciously like Delirious, who he wasn’t quite ready to confront yet after his embarrassment of a background check earlier), and so decided against investigating in spite of his burning curiosity. 

 

The door to the engine room was already open, so Evan let himself in and he stepped into what felt like a cloud of heat. He could already feel the warmth radiating out of the open doorway when he was standing in the corridor, but even so, he wasn’t expecting the room to be so  _ hot.  _ It vaguely reminded him of returning to his warm home after a long day spent outside in the snow back on Vanossi, but he supposed the heat should have been expected considering the power source for the entire ship was located here and constantly running. 

 

The engine itself took up the entirety of the left wall, stretching all the way from the ceiling down to the floor with a grate along the bottom that was currently removed for maintenance and lay abandoned on the floor. It was an odd rusty copper color, though Evan suspected it was made from something much stronger, and it was covered with multiple lights and a myriad of gauges that displayed various information, but he was in way over his head trying to understand it all, and turned his attention to the rest of the room instead. 

 

The floor was made from similar black grates to the ones that lined the underneath of the engine, and through the slim gaps in the metal, he could see wires and pipes of varying sizes leading to every corner of the ship. To his right across from the engine, there was another wall that was lined top to bottom with a plethora of switches and dials, as well as more gauges and coloured lights, and Evan wondered if the entire ship could be controlled from this wall alone. Directly in front of him, opposite the door, there seemed to be some sort of elevated stage as he could see two steps leading up towards something but it was difficult to tell as that section of the room was cordoned off by a large curtain made of mismatched materials that made it resemble a giant room-sized quilt. 

 

A cart stood near the centre of the room right next to the engine, and held a variety of different tools, equipment, and pieces of scrap metal, many of which Evan recognised from his time spent working on the oil rigs, but the majority of the tools lay scattered across the ground next to a pair of legs that were sticking out from beneath the engine, and he guessed that they had to belong to Brock.  

 

Evan shifted on the spot awkwardly and listened to the clinking and clanging of Brock working on the engine for a moment as he wondered how he should introduce himself to a stranger that didn’t know he was there, but Brock was more observant than he gave him credit for, and he called out to him first. “Brian?” he asked, his voice reverberating on the engine walls. “That you?”

 

“Uhh, no, not Brian,” Evan sheepishly corrected him, and the clanging came to an abrupt stop the second Brock hear his voice and realised he didn’t recognise it. “I’m Evan, the new crewmate?” he added, unsure if he knew about him yet, but all the others seemed to be aware of his existence and so he assumed that Brock did as well. 

 

“Oh!” he exclaimed, his voice filled with recognition. “Oh, hello! I wasn’t expecting you to wander down here! Hold on; give me a sec to finish this real quick and I’ll come out and talk to you properly!” The hurried clanging started again, and Evan suddenly felt guilty as he worried that he might have been bothering him. 

 

“I can come back later if you’re busy?” he asked, pointing a thumb back at the door even though Brock couldn’t actually see him, and was already ready to leave him to work in peace, and might have done so if Brock hadn’t insisted he stay.

 

“No, you’re fine, I’m almost finished anyway! I just need to tweak one little thing first,” he explained, and a gloved hand poked out from beneath the engine and felt around on the floor, looking for something in particular. “Aw, where did that wrench go?” he thought aloud, and Evan looked around his feet trying to find it, but his attention was instead stolen by a sudden chirping that came from behind the curtain. 

 

The curtain shook as something tried to push its way through and the chirping turned into panicked beeping for a moment as whatever it was struggled to break out of its fabric prison, but soon a small white robot popped out, zoomed down the makeshift ramp in the corner, and made a beeline towards them. It was tiny, no higher than his knee, and made from a smooth white chrome that reflected all the lights around it. It was nothing but a round head and an egg shaped body with no limbs whatsoever, much like a snowman, and moved around by hovering a few inches above the ground. A large black screen substituted a face, and was currently displaying a bright blue exclamation mark as it hurried towards them, and an antennae stretched out of the top of his head and swayed as it moved around. 

 

Once it reached the engine, a question mark appeared on the screen as the robot tilted its head curiously as it scanned the area, looking for something in particular, and as soon as it found what it was searching for, the screen lit up with another exclamation mark and it chirped in excitement. A hole opened in its side, and a long spindly arm folded out and reached beneath the cart, and the robot beeped triumphantly once again as it dragged a wrench out from underneath it. The doors in its chest popped open and it tossed the heavy wrench into the storage compartment inside before folding its arm away again, and zooming the long way around Evan and the cart to reach Brock’s side. 

 

Brock held his palm open, seemingly knowing what was going on without having to look, and he caught the wrench when the robot unceremoniously dumped it into his hand. “Thanks buddy! Good job!” he praised it gratefully, and passed the wrench into his other hand so he could pet the robot’s head as if it were a puppy, scumming its shiny clean head with oil in the process. The robot didn’t seem to mind though and chirped affectionately, and displayed a big blue heart on its LED screen. 

 

Brock went back to work, and the robot stayed by his legs in case it was needed again, and Evan watched it curiously. He had never seen a robot like this one before, but if he had to guess, he assumed that it must have be some sort of Personal Storage Bot. “Is that a PSB?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him, and it craned its head up to look at him when it heard Evan talking about him. 

 

“Yeah, he’s an older model, but he still functions just as well as the newer ones, if you ask me. Plus he’s cute and that’s always a bonus,” Brock explained, and the robot chirped affectionately again at the compliment. “His name is M00, by the way.”

 

“Moo?”

 

Brock hummed in confirmation. “Well, ‘M-zero-zero’, but we pronounce it ‘moo’. It’s the first three digits in his serial number, but it sounded cute, so that’s what I named him. He’s like a tiny robot puppy!” he added fondly as if he were actually talking about a real dog. 

 

“Well, he already knows fetch,” Evan commented, earning a laugh from Brock, but his focus was still on M00, and the way his head swiveled around in its socket as he looked between them. His joke did give him an idea though, and he reached into his pocket and fished out the lollipop that Anthony had given him earlier and flicked it across the room. 

 

As expected, the small object arcing through the air caught M00’s attention, and it chirped excitedly and displayed another exclamation mark before chasing after it. Evan had to admit that he was rather puppy-like as he watched M00 pick up the lollipop with his extendable hand and examine it. However, unlike a puppy, M00 stuffed it into his storage compartment and zoomed back behind the curtain with it instead of bringing it back to him, and he disappeared out of sight. 

 

“He’ll only play fetch with me though. He has a habit of stealing from everyone else,” Brock informed him a little too late, but Evan was just glad he hadn’t tossed him something important, and hoped that Anthony didn’t ask him about that lollipop later. “So I recommend not playing with him because you will never see whatever you throw again.”

 

“Noted,” Evan said, watching the curtain for another moment to see if M00 would return to them again, but he chose to stay behind the curtain with his new toy instead. 

 

It wasn’t long after that that Brock finally finished whatever he was doing, and the clanking stopped after he let out a triumphant “There!  _ Hopefully _ that should be it now!” He started sweeping the tools he was using out from underneath the engine until they were at his feet, before sliding himself out on the wheeled board he was lying on, and Evan could finally see what he looked like from the knees up. 

 

He had already seen him from the waist down, but now that he was fully visible Evan could get a better glimpse of Brock’s heavy working boots and the cargo pants that were tucked into them. His belt had an array of pockets and holders for various tools attached to it, with a gleaming silver buckle connecting it all to his person. The short sleeved shirt that was meant to be a warm grey was stained with oil and various fluids from hours of use, but it seemed to fit him comfortably. The gloved hands that he had seen earlier pulled him out from under the engine completely and Evan finally saw his face. Or at least, half of it; his face and most of his forehead was covered by a pair of large, golden lensed goggles and didn’t give him a good view of his facial features.

 

However, his smile was impossible to overlook, and even with the bulbous yellow orbs that took up most of his face, he still looked genuinely happy. The board squeaked as he got to his feet and gently pushed it back underneath the engine with his boot. “Hello,” Brock said, beaming at Evan warmly. “You probably already know my name if you found the Engine room already, but allow me to introduce myself formally; My name’s Brock, Brock Selden.”

 

“Evan Fong. It’s nice to meet you,” he greeted politely. 

 

Brock beamed and extended his hand out to him. Evan reached for it, but the two both hesitated at the same time as the hand Brock had offered was gloved, and still coated in a thick layer of oil. He chuckled nervously and tugged off the worn leather so reveal a clean palm, then extended his hand out to Evan once more.

 

“Sorry,” he laughed hesitantly as Evan shook hands with him. “Sometimes I get so caught up in my work that I forget that I wear these. They’re like a second skin sometimes.”

 

“It’s alright, I’m not innocent of that either.” Evan shrugged. “But it’s nice to meet you,”

 

“It’s nice to meet you, too!” Brock replied happily, and with that he removed his other glove and stuffed them both into one of his pockets before lightly gripping his goggles and lifting up to the top of his head, finally revealing his soft brown eyes that matched his hair color perfectly. “I can see you’ve already made friends with M00, and my roommate as well if you came down here so fast,”

 

Evan blinked, slightly confused. “Your roommate?” he wondered aloud.

 

Brock smiled and bent down as he collected his tools from the floor and began either putting him back on his belt or in the cart beside them. “Yeah,  _ Brian _ ,” he explained calmly.

 

“Oh!” That suddenly made a lot of sense as to why Brian was so adamant that he met Brock.”I… didn’t realise that you two were roommates,” Evan admitted.

 

“Oh, that’s alright, don’t worry about it,” Brock assured while he dragged the cart back to the corner of the room. “He stays with me because I’m the only one who can give him repairs.” He paused. “...Although I  _ did _ end up forcing him to move in with me once I found out that he used to sleep in the broom closet.”

 

Evan couldn’t help but inhale to keep a surprised laugh from escaping. “The  _ broom closet _ ?” he repeated in surprise. “...Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

 

“Not for him,” Brock replied nonchalantly. “His sleep cycle is connected to his charging features, so he plugs himself into an outlet and he sleeps, but as soon as I found out I haven’t let him charge without lying down at the very least…” he shook his head as he realised that he had started rambling. “But anyways, we’ve been roomies ever since. When you showed up, Sark told us that you were in the main room and since I was busy down here Brian went up for the both of us. He’s a good judge of character,”

 

“Oh, that makes sense,” Evan commented, nodding his head. However, something Brock said seemed unfamiliar, specifically a name he mentioned, and he frowned in confusion. “Um… if you don’t mind me asking, who’s Sark?” Out of everyone he had met, Lui or anyone else had never mentioned someone named ‘Sark’. Was there another crewmate they had forgotten to tell him about?

 

Brock blinked before suddenly brightening in realisation. “Oh! Sark, or ‘System of Aeronautics, Robotics, and Knowledge’, is our ship’s built-in AI. He’s also the autopilot for the ship,”

 

“Oh,” Evan exclaimed, filled with interest. He didn’t realise that this ship was the type that had a customised AI interface, and was now very intrigued. In all of the years spent on Vanossi, artificial intelligence was a luxury Evan hadn't had the pleasure of interacting with, much less learning about. He hadn’t interacted with an AI before and he was curious as to how they were accessed; he wondered if it was like the computer systems he had in the schools back home. “So, does he talk to you guys through text then? Like on computer monitors and stuff?”

 

Before Brock could say another word, a sudden voice seemingly came out of nowhere with a slight crackling of static, loud and clearly miffed.

 

“ _ Excuse me _ ? I’m not  _ that _ old!” a robotic voice snapped defensively.

 

Evan was startled by the sudden intrusion and whirled around in surprise, but oddly there was no one behind him. As his eyes skimmed the area, the voice came back once more, continuing to speak curses and sputtering swears in rapid succession. Brock’s face had turned to one of annoyance while he sighed to himself in a deadpan manner. “I mean, honestly! I know I've got a few decades under my belt, if you count my first beta testing, but thirty is  _ not _ old! I'm not one of those fucking-”

 

_ “Language.” _

 

_ ”FUCKING  _ test-based  _ pocket protectors _ ,”

 

Brock rolled his eyes. “Lay off him, he's new to this.”

 

“Oh, I know,” the voice replied smartly. “I was watching the entire orientation- ...also Kid, as much as I appreciate being looked up to as a deity, I'm not in the ceiling.” Evan frowned and looked away from the engine room’s ceiling with confused eyes, and after a beat of silence, the voice added, “Look to your right,” in an unimpressed tone of voice.

 

Evan turned to peer to his right side, and noticed the interface panel that he had seen earlier that was meant to be a communication hub with the rest of the ship. The light next to the dials was a bright red, and he saw sound waves registering on the screen attached as the voice continued to speak. “That's better,” it approved briefly, and Evan only stared in speechless awe. He didn't realise that someone had been listening to their conversation.

 

“Are… are  _ you _ Sark?” he asked nervously, and the interface emitted a brief sound that almost sounded like a forced laugh.

 

“Good to know that you can pay attention at least,” it droned. “...but yes, Sark’s my name. What do you want?”

 

Evan blinked in mild shock at Sark’s blunt, profane, and fairly  _ insulting _ way of speaking, and looked to Brock for guidance. The man in question rolled his eyes heavily and budged past him to make eye contact with Sark’s panel, or least that's what Evan figured he was trying to do. “Leave him alone; he's new, and you being a jerk isn't helping,”

 

There was a half second pause as Sark seemed to be staring back at Brock, despite not having any eyes to do it literally, and sighed overdramatically. “You're such a spoilsport…” Brock hardened his glare, and there was another pause. “... _ Fine _ ,”

 

Brock shook his head before giving Evan an apologetic look. “Sorry, he's always like this,” he sent the interface another glare before adding,  _ ”Unfortunately.” _

 

“You know you love me, I've heard you say it before,” Sark retorted haughtily, causing Brock to groan once more. “Don't try to deny it! I hear  _ everything _ .” That seemed to remind Sark of something, because then he altered his focus to Evan instead. “That reminds me… nice job interviewing skills there, Kid.”

 

Evan tensed up slightly upon realising that the autopilot had been  _ listening _ to his conversation with Lui and Delirious. “...You heard that?”

 

“Hell yeah, I did!” Sark chirped, unfazed by Evan’s clear discomfort. “So… how about that wardrobe malfunction?”

 

He swallowed nervously. “Uh…”

 

“Was it like a costume malfunction during a school play? Did you lose a bet and had to dress like a porn star for school?” Sark paused for a moment before asking, “Did you wet yourself?”

 

Evan stammered and shifted nervously. “I… I, uh…” He'd rather have his old memories  _ stay  _ buried, especially the ones pertaining to events with his school peers - specifically ones involving Randy. There were things Evan wasn't comfortable with sharing with everyone, and his memories involving the bullying and harassment he was treated to throughout high school was something  _ very high _ on the list.

 

“ _ Okay,” _ Brock suddenly interrupted, shoving past Evan and reaching for the interface panel. “That's enough talking outta you!”

 

“Oh, come on!” Sark complained loudly, almost like a child being denied ice cream. “I haven't even gotten started-” He couldn't finish his sentence however, because Brock flipped a switch on the panel that turned the red light on the interface off, and Sark’s voice faded along with it. Brock shook his head and looked at Evan apologetically.

 

“Sorry about him; he's nosy and doesn't understand human decency very well,” he explained.

 

“ _ I heard that!” _ Sark’s voice replied somewhere down the hallway.

 

“Go bother Lui for a change,” Brock called back, clearly annoyed with the stubborn AI. There was no reply and he finally sighed in content, although he looked at Evan sheepishly. “...Sorry about that.”

 

“It's alright,” Evan assured kindly. “He seemed… nice,”

 

Brock sighed while he shook his head. “He's a  _ nice _ pain in my behind, that's what he is,” he stated firmly, walking to the other side of the room to reach the access panels on the right wall. “Sark is… well, I don't mean to sound too rude, but he's not exactly your typical ‘friendly’ crewmate.”

 

“I can see that,” Evan laughed goodnaturedly, and Brock smiled softly at his chuckling.

 

“...I hope you like it here, I really do, even if some of the crew mates are less than polite.”

 

Evan grinned at the sincere and gentle tone in his voice, and exhaled quietly, slipping his hands into the pockets of his pants. “I hope so too…” The ship had already had him attached, and with all the friendly crewmates he wanted nothing more than to stay for a least a few weeks.

 

Brock looked over at the engine and smiled proudly as it smoothly purred. “Nothing is more satisfying than hearing Val hum like that.” He gave the large machine a kindhearted pat with his bare hand and flipped open a small panel on it’s side to inspect some wires.

 

“Val?” Evan repeated, raising his eyebrows in surprise. There were  _ more _ computer personalities?

 

“Val is just what I call the Valkyrie’s heart,” Brock replied absentmindedly, fiddling with some switches and pressing a few buttons. “Giving her a name just makes her feel more like a home,” He sighed and gazed at the engine with raw, immeasurable affection. “I’m just glad I could fix her today. The watered down fuel gave us quite a scare, I thought she got seriously damaged.” He let his hand rest on the side of the engine’s metallic body and he smiled with content. The look he gave the massive metal shell reminded Evan of a lover gazing at his significant other, and it was amusing, almost heartwarming.

 

Evan observed them both, and couldn’t help but crack a smile. “...Should I leave you two alone?” he said jokingly, and Brock withdrew his hand in surprise, clearly not realising that he had gotten lost in thought.

 

“Oh! Sorry,” he rushed nervously, chuckling with embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his head as he muttered, “I’m sure it looks weird, huh?”

 

“No, it’s not weird. I think it’s sort of adorable that you gave her a persona,” Evan assured warmly, and Brock laughed.

 

“I wouldn’t say it’s  _ adorable _ … call me old fashioned, but I’ve always given my creations names and personalities,” he nodded to the interface behind Evan. “Sark doesn’t think Val has a brain, but I think she does,”

 

“Well, if you say she has a personality, I frankly trust your judgement more than Sark’s… no offense to Sark.”

 

That got a chuckle out of Brock. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said with a grin, flipping the panel closed and reaching behind his head to unhook his goggles. “Well, I think she’ll be running smoothly from here on out, and my stomach is going to have a fit if I don’t get some nutrients in it soon,” Brock nodded to the door and started walking out. “Do you want to come with? I can give you a tour of the kitchen if you’d like?”

 

Evan smiled and nodded. “That sounds great, yeah,”

 

Brock smiled and whistled. “M00, buddy! We’re heading upstairs!” 

 

There was a loud chirp and the curtain was tossed around as M00 burst out from behind the curtain and zoomed down the ramp, past Evan’s legs, and over to Brock. He circled his legs and beeped happily while nuzzling Brock’s shin with his head. Another happy chirp emitted from it’s voicebox as Brock gave it an affectionate pet, tucking his goggles into his pant pocket. Evan smiled at them both, suddenly seeing exactly why Brock called M00 a puppy. The two had a dog and master relationship, and M00 definitely behaved like the few canines he had back on Vanossi.

 

M00 looked over, noticed Evan, and hesitantly moved over to him, presumably to inspect him. Evan smiled and reached out to pet him, but instead of happy beeps he got a nervous chirp and M00 zoomed back around to hide behind Brock’s legs.

 

Brock laughed and looked at him sheepishly. “Welcome aboard?” he offered, trying to coax the shaking M00 out from behind him.

 

Evan grinned and let the two of him lead him out of the engine room and back down the corridor leading to the stairs. There were voices inside the Archives still, only this time he recognised both Delirious and Sark’s voices making unintelligible conversation. Brock asked him about his favorite foods and what he was able to consume safely in case of allergies, and as Evan listed off the few items that made up his Vanossi-diet, he couldn’t help but keep his smile plastered on his face. Judging by how everyone had welcomed him with open arms, especially Brock’s easily-approachable and friendly introduction, he was sure that he’d be able to have a fun time aboard the ship.

 

Although he did have to admit that Brock’s philosophy of calling it his home didn’t sound half bad either.

  
  


Hours after talking with the others and getting acquainted with them- and Val herself- Evan caught Lui when he was on his way to his room from the cockpit as the day began to end. He hustled over and adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder once more. “Hey Lui, can I talk to you for a second?”

 

Lui looked over his shoulder and turned around quickly. “Sure. What's up?”

 

Evan chewed his lip and shuffled his feet nervously. “Um, I don't mean to sound needy or anything, but I had a question about the whole sleeping arrangement thing…?” Despite being on the ship all day, he still had no idea as to where he was meant to rest his head at night. Lui knitted his brow and looked at Evan curiously, then his eyes settled on his duffel bag and startled alert.

 

“Oh shit, sorry! I can't believe I forgot to mention that…” he grinned sheepishly and gently took hold of Evan’s shoulder to turn him towards the adjacent hallway. “You're bunking with Jonathan. Luckily Brian stays down in the engine room with Brock, so that leaves Jon with an extra bunk and a  _ perfect _ spot for you.”

 

He pointed down the hall and smiled up at him. “It's the door at the very end of the hall on the left, right next to the stairs.” Lui gently clapped Evan on the shoulder and gave him a light pat before nudging him down the hall. “Go ahead and get settled in. I'll see you in the morning.”

 

“Thanks Lui,” Evan said gratefully. Lui smiled at him and walked into his room and the door shut behind him with a slight clink as it locked behind him. The lights dimmed moments after and the ship’s humming shifted slightly in pitch to a low purring sound.

 

Evan guessed that this was the ship’s ‘night-mode’ and began his walk down the dimmed hallways. He heard an unfamiliar style of music through one of the doors as he walked by, and hushed whispering echoing through the door to the infirmary. He reached the last door at the end of the hall, nestled between the door to the medical bay and the stairs leading down to the lower level. It was right on the corner, and Evan could see down the other hallway that led to the bathroom and other rooms he was sure he'd get to see later on. But at the moment, Evan was exhausted and he could feel his bed calling him, so he turned away and reached out to open the door.

 

The door to the bunk room was slightly different than the other doorways, as these had an actual panel on the left hand side that controlled the door. Evan reached out and hesitated before he pressed the top button. The door slide to the right and Evan looked inside the room before entering.

 

It was a fairly simple design; a desk was built into the right wall with a swivel chair next to the door, and on the left there were a few coat hangers attached to the wall and a hamper neatly settled in the corner. On the other side of each wall were two beds mirroring each other on either side. There was an overhang above each bed, with drawers built into them and a shelf hollowed out in the walls each bed was against with a small lightswitch next to it. A side table with two columns of drawers came out of the wall and connected the two sides into one, with a thick brown rug neatly laid out on the floor between them. There was also space under each bed that looked fit for storage, with outlets beneath the bed, inside the hollowed shelf, on the desk, in the ceiling, and on the surface of the side table. The room was colored in a mixture of warm greys and browns, but seemed cozy enough.

 

The left side was distinctly occupied. Items and notebooks were neatly settled onto the shelves, the bed’s bright blue bedsheets looked messily made, and a pair of boots were poking out underneath the bed along with a black duffel bag. However, the most notable thing about the whole room was the man standing next to the bed with his back to Evan. He hadn't appeared to have noticed Evan standing in the doorway and was calmly picking up notebooks and setting them in his messenger bag.

 

This must be Jonathan, it had to be. There was a small thought lingering in Evan’s head, but he couldn't figure out what it was trying to tell him so he brushed it off. Evan swallowed his slight nervousness and let a shy smile grace his features as he took a confident step into the room.

 

“Hello,” Evan started, walking over and smiling warmly as his new bunkmate turned his head to face him. “Is this Jonathan’s room? I think I'm your new bunkm-... Oh.”

 

There was a brief silence as Evan assessed who it was he was speaking to. It was  _ Delirious, _ the man who had given him the background check from before, and he looked just as surprised as Evan was.

 

“Oh…” the man remarked softly and Evan recognized his voice instantly. It was definitely Delirious. “Um… hello,”

 

“Hi.” Evan replied shyly. They stood in awkward silence for a few moments, both unsure of what exactly to say. Evan chewed his lip and decided to try and make small talk, “Um… nice weather we're having, huh?”

 

Delirious raised his brow in slight confusion. “...We're in space.”

 

Evan winced and quickly pulled his hand away to rub the back of his neck. “Oh, right.” He internally slapped himself upside the head. Damnnit, what kind of question was _ that?! _ They didn't have weather in space, Evan had  _ known _ that.

 

“Um,” Delirious began, hesitantly speaking up and catching Evan’s attention, “Look, I'm sorry about the whole background check thing. I didn't know some of it was going to make you uncomfortable.” So, he  _ had _ noticed Evan’s discomfort.

 

“Oh no, it's fine. That was actually really cool that you found all of that information so quickly. You're really good with computers.” Evan complimented, smiling softly.

 

Delirious blinked and hugged his bag strap to his chest. “Thanks… but it is my  _ job, _ so… I kinda have to be.”

 

“Right,” Evan concurred quietly, but inside his head, he was cringing. He did not expect this conversation to be so awkward and forced.

 

“Well, I guess I should introduce myself since you did to me,” Delirious remarked. “I'm Jonathan. Jonathan Smith, but most people just call me ‘Delirious’.”

 

“Well, it's nice to meet you, Delirious.” Evan greeted warmly.

 

“It's good to meet you as well, Evan.” There was more silence, and Delirious quietly shuffled his feet. Evan cleared his throat, and nervously spoke up.

 

“Um, Lui said that I was going to bunk here, so I was just going to get settled in. I hope that's okay...?” Evan said shyly.

 

“Oh, yeah, that's fine,” Delirious replied quickly. He picked up his tablet and set it in his black and blue messenger bag. “I was just leaving.” He nodded towards the right side of the room. “I sleep on the left, so you can take the right side.”

 

“Got it.” Evan confirmed with a curt nod. He walked past Delirious and set his duffel bag on the right bed, which sunk into the mattress from its immense bulk.

 

“Well, uh… See ya.” Jon concluded briefly.

 

“Yeah, um, see you later.” was Evan’s hesitant reply. Jon backed up a few steps, staring at him, before turning on his heel and quickly walking out of the bunkroom. Evan frowned and winced at the horrible, cringeworthy exchange that had just transpired. Hopefully, Delirious had just been as nervous as he was, and that type of conversation was rare. He really wanted Jon to like him, and Evan only hoped that their future conversations would become less awkward and genuine like he had originally hoped. The last thing he wanted was to have strife with his roommate.

  
  


Jon wanted to bash his head against a wall.

 

He'd be the first to admit that small talk wasn't his thing, but that conversation with Evan was beyond awkward, and he wished it had gone better. In his defense, Evan had caught him off guard and he wasn't prepared to speak with him, especially in his bunk room that up until now was his private safe haven that he could hide from the world in, and he didn't expect the new guy to invade it. He should've seen it coming, considering his room was the only room left that still had a free bed, but Evan's presence still surprised him, and their first real encounter ended up being more stilted than he would have liked. It didn't help that Evan was nervous and wary of him after how much he'd embarrassed him earlier, and he was kicking himself now for not being more welcoming.

 

Still, he supposed he couldn't change the past no matter how much he wished he could, and now all he wanted to do was immerse himself in his work and forget that interaction ever happened.

 

Adjusting the strap on his bag, Jon finally stepped away from his bunk room door and headed down the stairs towards the Archives. The sound of Brock clinking and clanging as he worked in the engine room echoed through the corridor, but once he stepped into the Archives and the door slid shut behind him, the rattling disappeared, and comfortable silence enveloped him and allowed him to relax his tense shoulders.

 

The room Jon had grown accustomed to thinking of as his own personal office was spacious, bigger than he needed to accommodate him as the sole person who worked in it. There was another desk off to the side that was reserved for another crewmate, but since Jon was the only one, the desk had become a mere resting place for papers, wires, and odd pieces of tech Jon managed to salvage and use for various purposes. The bookshelves lining the walls surrounding the entrance to the Archives were filled to the brim with books, so tightly pressed together that it looked as though it would burst at any given moment. The heated linoleum flooring was worn with use and the dark grey colour made the floor seem as though it didn't exist at all wherever the shadows touched it. The plush blue carpet that was firmly tucked beneath his desk and chair was worn from shoes walking over it dozen upon dozens of times but was still soft to the touch.

 

At the back wall, Jon could see the small set of lockers where he kept a few of his personal items and the large light that stretched across the entire back wall continued to hum with its muted yellow glow, giving the impression of the light during a sunset. However the wall light was worn with age and its current paleness and lack of vivid brightness made the room eerie and ghostlike, just the way Jon liked it. The curved desk, Jon’s desk, that was facing the door was covered with papers, books, keyboards, pens, charcoal, and a few stray gum wrappers that Jon remembered that he had to toss into the airlock disposal at some point. The black, cushioned swivel chair in front of the three monitor computer was just as Jon had left it, facing him as though it was welcoming him back into his secondary home.

 

Now that he was forced to share a room with Evan, the Archives were the only private personal space he had left, and after the day he had, he was ready to have some time to himself.

 

Jon crossed the room to the cluttered desk that had quickly become his own, and he set his bag down in the empty space and took out his tablet and hologram projector before setting the bag down on the floor at his feet, deciding that he'd take out the rest of the contents as he needed them. The old chair squeaked and croaked with his weight as he sat down even though he wasn't all that heavy, and he reclined back in his seat, pulling his feet up onto the chair with him and tugging the tablet into his lap. He flicked his tablet and hologram projector on, and waited a moment for them to sync up, and once they were connected, a scale model of the solar system projected out of the small cube on his desk in a bright electric blue, casting the dim room in an azure glow.

 

Now that he was all set up, he could finally begin working and forget that awkward conversation ever happened.

 

Or so he thought.

 

"That went well," Sark's robotic voice crackled through the intercom. Jon had tweaked it many times to sound less mechanical and more smooth and lifelike, but Sark always reverted his changes. He supposed that Sark just didn't like sounding so human, and so he gave up trying to fix it.

 

"What went well?" Jon asked absentmindedly as he used his tablet to zoom out and he watched the holographic solar system shrink as it disappeared into the larger galaxy. He moved it around and rotated it as he looked for the sector that their next destination was located in.

 

"Your talk with your new roomie!" he exclaimed, and Jon cringed when he realised that Sark had heard that, but of course he did. He should have expected it. There wasn't anything that Sark enjoyed more than eavesdropping, and knowing him, the only reason he was here right now was to tease him about it.

 

Being insulted and made fun of was not why he had come in here, and Jon was half tempted to switch off Sark's intercom before he had a chance to jeer him, but instead, he humoured him and let him speak, even though he had a feeling he was going to regret it. "'Well' isn't the word I would have used," Jon mumbled with a sigh.

 

"Of course not. You could've cut the tension between you with a chainsaw.  _ I _ was uncomfortable just watching," Sark told him, and Jon winced at his words, feeling even worse now that he had confirmation that it was as awkward as he thought it was.

 

“Cut me some slack, alright?” he jabbed with a roll of his eyes. “I didn’t know he was going to be there, and you know how  _ great _ my social skills are.”

 

“Oh, believe me, I  _ know,”  _ Sark quipped, and if his intercom was capable of wearing a shit-eating grin, it would have shown one to accompany his know-it-all tone of voice. If there was one thing Sark loved doing, it was to let everyone around him know of just how superior he was to everyone else. “You have the social skills of a fucking cabbage.”

 

Jon lifted his eyes from the holographic screen to give Sark’s intercom a stone-faced stare, with no amusement evident on his features. “Thanks for taking care to break it to me easily, Sark."

 

"No problem, Tech Hermit."

 

It had taken a whole twenty seconds for Jon’s fuse to nearly be burnt out, and Sark knew that he was one smart remark away from being kicked out of the Archives, yet the risk had never caused any genuine concern for him. If he was switched off in one room he could simply jump to another and pester someone else for his own personal enjoyment. Jon wondered how Lui was so content with his presence every day when all he ever did was tease and provide unwanted criticism over every action everyone aboard the  _ Valkyrie _ carried out. While Sark had been a great part of Daithi’s and his childhood, the AI had neither a sense of human decency nor the motivation to practice it.

 

There was dead silence before Jon sighed as he could feel the computer’s electronic eyes peering down at him from above. “ _ What?” _ he asked in exasperation.

 

“So… what do you think of him?” Sark asked in a sing-song tone that sounded repulsively obnoxious coming from his deep, robotic voice.

 

Jon’s brow furrowed at Sark’s inquiry while he swiped at the small model of a space station, marked ‘Robetta’ in bold, white letters; the model enlarged and a large selection of data on the station’s exports and imports appeared. He read the columns and wrote down the few items that the  _ Valkyrie _ was carrying and wrote them down in the open notebook sitting on the desk while looking at the intercom skeptically.

 

“Is this an interview?” he asked with a deadpan expression. Sark groaned, which sounded more of a technological drawl with his synthesised voice and robotic undertones. 

 

“I’m serious, Delirious; what’s he like?”

 

There was a pause, and Jon let his mind think back to his new roommate. He didn’t know much about him, spare the information he found on his background check. “Um, he seems… nice? He’s not a criminal, and he hasn’t left Vanossi since he was bor-”

 

“Damnnit, Delirious, I don’t care about that informational shit!” Sark snapped harshly. “I can find that  _ myself _ on the Internet. What about his personality? Did he seem nice? Like…  _ friend-worthy?” _

 

Jon froze. So  _ that _ was what this was all about. Sark knew all too well that his friend circle was impossibly stark. He lowered his gaze and opened the next page on the Robetta, now filling out a form that granted access to a docking station at the time they would be arriving. “He was alright.”

 

Silence followed for the next handful of seconds, which prompted him to look up at the sleek metallic interface that made up Sark’s circuitry. The hair on the back of his neck prickled with the sensation of being watched, and being the center of attention was definitely  _ low _ on the list of things that Jon wanted to have happen to him. With a slightly hesitant clearing of his throat, he shrugged and sunk back into his chair. “I mean it; he was just… I don’t know… alright? He seemed nice, I guess.” Sark didn’t reply, and Jon suddenly became aware that perhaps he had actually left. A victorious grin grew as he realised that Sark 

had gotten bored and  _ finally _ decided to give him some peace and quiet, and relaxed in his seat with a content sigh.

 

_ ”Are you fucking kidding me?” _

 

Sark’s sudden intrusion was so loud and aggressive that Jon couldn’t help but let out a startled squeak and sat up so hastily that he nearly dropped his tablet onto the linoleum floor. He scrambled to catch it in his hands and his eyes were wide in the split second of panic he experienced at the threat of his tech shattering on the solid floor beneath his feet. Now that his belongings were safe, Jon dared to look up and give the interface next to his desk a frustrated scowl. “What the hell, Sark?” he exclaimed through clenched teeth, but Sark seemed to be glaring back at him, despite not having the eyes to do so.

 

_ “That _ is all you have to fucking say about him? ‘He’s alright’?” Jon knitted his brow and tried to speak, but he was interrupted before he could get a word in edgewise. “You meet a new person who happens to be your new roommate and a  _ potential friend, _ and you say he’s  _ alright?” _

 

“Well, what did you  _ want _ me to say?” Jon challenged indignantly. He put on a fake smile and pretending to swoon. “Oh, Sark, he’s  _ great! _ I love his personality, and he was so amazing from just that one exchange that I want to be  _ best friends _ with him!” he exclaimed in a sugary, high-pitched voice before glowering at him. “For the universe’s sake, Sark. He isn’t any different than anyone else on board; why should  _ he _ suddenly be so special?”

 

Despite not having any mode of visual expression, Jon could feel Sark’s clearly miffed voice retort with twice the volume of his. “ _ Why? _ Delirious, you don’t have any fucking friends!”

 

His mouth thinned and he slumped deeper into his chair, and continued filling out the paperwork. “I have friends,” he muttered, more to himself than Sark, but the computer had ears all over the ship and his quiet rebuttal was heard regardless.

 

Sark made what was meant to sound like a scoff, and chuckled darkly. “Don’t try and sell me that bullshit, Kid. I know for a  _ fact _ that you haven’t had a friend for the past two and a half years. At the very least, someone who you actually trust and talk to like they were a friend. Lui and Nogla are one thing because they’re your superiors, but other than that you have  _ me,  _ then nobody else to talk to.”

 

Jon rolled his eyes and chose to put all of his focus on his tablet screen, typing in a few commands and with a low hum, his holographic computer monitor flickered to life as he began using both screens to drag and drop different items into various folders for Lui to hand to their clients later on. “You don’t  _ need _ friends, Sark,” he said with an impassive lilt in his voice, having made this argument dozens of times before. “Friends cause problems and hurt emotions, you can live perfectly fine without them. Take me for instance.”

 

“I  _ am,” _ Sark snapped flatly, and tense, irritable silence followed. Jon unconsciously scowled while he worked and after many moments of silence, it was interrupted once more but this time with a much more docile tone. “I am, Kid, and it’s not a pretty picture. You sleep during the day and work at night. You shut yourself in your office every day and rarely speak to anyone in person. Fucking- the only times you’ve ever been honest or open to anyone was when you were so hyped up on sugar at 4am that you didn’t even have the conscience to stop yourself. It’s not good for any human to live like that, and if you weren’t a  _ meatbag, _ then I wouldn’t be concerned because I get along just fine with no friends, but humans don’t fucking work like that.”

 

After he concluded his argument, Jon scowled and pointed himself. “Well,  _ this _ one does. I’m  _ fine, _ and I’ll always be fine, and being ‘chums’ with my new roommate is only going to cause more harm. The second you put your heart in someone else's hands, you either get it destroyed, or they go down and drag it with them.”

 

Sark sighed suddenly. “This is about  _ him, _ isn’t it?” Jon suddenly stiffened. He gripped his tablet tightly, silently signalling to the AI that he was now walking on  _ very _ thin ice. “...Damnit, Delirious… it’s been  _ years. _ You need to find someone to talk to about this-” he was cut off when Jon harshly set the tablet onto his desk with a loud clang.

 

_ “I don’t need anyone, Sark.” _ he snarled through clenched teeth and for once, Sark fell silent. “And you don’t get to fucking talk about him!”

 

“I...” There was a pause and a reluctant sigh. “I’m sorry, alright?” Jon relaxed slightly and continued working, but Sark knew that he had crossed a line that he couldn’t backtrack from. He was just a few choice words from being muted, and judging by the way Jon’s shoulders were hunched and his hands were tightly gripping the tablet until his knuckles were white, he didn’t have much time left regardless. “...You won’t even  _ try _ to make friends?” he asked softly.

 

Jon didn’t speak for a long time and for a brief moment Sark was worried if he had actually muted him without him knowing, but a quiet, exhausted sigh escaped his small frame. “It’s for the best… if Evan knew my history, he wouldn’t want to be friends with me anyways.”

 

“But-” Sark paused. He had to choose his next words carefully. “...Don’t you miss having someone close to you? Someone you can talk to or hang out with? Someone that makes you happy? Don’t you want that again?”

 

More silence followed. Sark watched him from above, taking his appearance with a slight feeling of concern. He didn’t care much for anyone aside from Lui and Nogla, some of which was mandatory, but he would’ve been lying if he claimed that the ship’s registered computer-hermit hadn’t grown on him. He knew more about Jon personally than  _ Lui _ did, and after knowing what he had been through, Sark felt a slight obligation to help him find someone who he could lean on for support. Someone who was made of flesh and blood, at least. Evan was the perfect choice for a fresh start, Jon just needed a little bit of convincing, that's all.

 

“...I need to work,” was Jon’s reply after finally speaking. Sark made a small disappointed noise through his voice box’s computerised vocal chords after recognising Jon’s attempt to change the subject. He had hit the nail on the head; that was  _ exactly _ what Delirious wanted. “Besides, you have a ship to autopilot.”

 

“Don’t you dare, Jonathan,” he challenged but despite his arguments, he watched helplessly as Jon reached for the button on his intercom that disabled his access to the Archive room.

 

“We’re done here,” was the last thing Jon said to Sark before switching it off.

 

“No, we’re not-” Sark’s voice was finally cut off with a small static sound, and he saw the red light on his interface fade to black as it signalled that Sark’s presence was now disabled until he decided to enable it once more. Jon sighed and put a hand to his head as he took in the raw silence, soaking it up like a sponge. Sweet relief at last.

 

The tablet in front of him pinged as it told him that the documents were completed and ready to send to Lui, and Jon sat up and pulled his chair closer to the desk, sending them on their way with a few simple keystrokes and a swipe of his finger. However, as he continued to work, the hair on the back of his neck prickled as he remembered what was directly behind him. Jon sighed and looked over his shoulder to the small row of lockers that were sealed to the wall parallel to his desk and chair, focusing the center one with a knowing look. Only he knew what items lied in that locker and no one, not even Sark, knew the passcode to open it. Even if they had, they wouldn’t know what to make of the contents inside, since they all knew next to nothing about him, and that was probably for the best.

 

He suddenly stiffened when he realised that he had been staring at the locker, again, and shook his head and wiped his eyes to get rid of any tears that might have formed whilst doing so. Jon turned back to his desk and continued working on his job, because he was in his happy place now and with Sark gone, he could finally get the pure solitude that he had craved since he entered the Archives. Evan was just another crewmate, the only difference being that he shared a room with him, and there was  _ nothing _ to worry about regarding him. Soon, he would adjust and things would go back to the way they were; he'd be left alone and no one would bother him.

 

Just the way Delirious liked it.

  
  


Evan hummed quietly to himself as he set his clothes into the drawers next to his bed. He took great care to keep his clothes neatly folded as he settled them into the shelves above his bed and the drawers beneath his mattress. He decided to keep his clothes that were suited to warmer weather above his bed and his heavier winter clothes in the drawers. However, this left his upper shelves barely occupied as he owned practically nothing but winter clothes, while the drawers were filled with winter pants, sweaters, and jackets. He decided to divide up the space and put some smaller clothing items up with his very few lightweight shirts and trousers.

 

A small flash of red and gold caught his eye, and Evan looked into his duffel bag after noticing the bright sliver of color. His old red and yellow scarf was sitting on top of his astronomy books, carefully folded into a neat rectangle. He smiled softly at the scarf and reached down to pick it up. The fabric was aged, the color was fading, and the trimming was frayed, but it was still soft to the touch.

 

His mother must have snuck it into his bag when he wasn't looking while packing. Evan rubbed his thumb along the treasured fabric, and hugged it between his fingers. Memories of how his mother would tightly wrap his neck with the scarf until he was protected from the chilling winds came rushing back to him. The affectionate smile she wore whenever he complained that didn't need a scarf that day lingered in his head, and the image morphed into the teary-eyed smile Evan had seen just before he left their home for the last time.

 

A small frown grew, and Evan shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the incoming tears. Now wasn't the time to get homesick; he had just arrived and he could always send them letters. He folded it up in his hands before gently placing it up on his top shelf for safekeeping, next to his gloves and science fair trophy, the only childhood prize he had cared about enough to keep. Evan smiled warmly at the scarf, and looked at it for another moment before taking a deep inhale. Now came the unpacking of his textbooks, which Evan was not exactly looking forward to.

 

The door to the bunk room slid open quietly, but loud enough for Evan to hear it open. He looked over expecting Lui or even Delirious, standing there, but was surprised to see the man he knew to be Tyler leaning into the the open archway. He tensed, and held his textbook tightly.

 

“Um, hey,” he greeted casually.

 

Evan furrowed his brow in slight confusion and replied pensively, “Uh… Hi. It's Tyler, isn't it?”

 

“Yeah, that's me,” Tyler clarified quickly. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Evan calmly. “Um, I know we may have not gotten off on the right foot. I was busy when I saw you, and I had to be somewhere so I couldn't stick around. I was hoping we'd have a chance to properly talk before your first night, y’know?”

 

“Oh!” Evan brightened almost instantly. So his first meeting  _ hadn't _ been intentionally isolating after all. “Sure, come on in! I'm just unpacking, so we can definitely chat now,” he explained as he set his text book into the bookshelf next to his bed.

 

Tyler nodded and entered the room, shutting the door behind him. He crossed his arms and looked at Evan while he continued organizing his small collection of books. “So, you're the new guy, huh?”

 

“Yeah, pretty much,” was Evan’s chipper reply. “I'm a little nervous, but really I'm just happy to be here. You know what I mean?”

 

“Yeah, I get it. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine,” Tyler assured absentmindedly, and he paused before knitting his brow. “Although… that does remind me of something I had wanted to ask you.”

 

Evan smiled as he heaved his  _ massive _ constellation encyclopedia out of his bag. It was old and worn, and when lifted it felt like he was carrying a boulder. “Sure!”

 

Tyler leaned against the wall and looked at his feet. “I just want to know one thing.” His gaze hardened and he looked up at Evan coldly. “...What's your angle?”

 

Silence loomed over the room as Evan blinked in mild surprise. He furrowed his brow and looked over his shoulder to meet Tyler's gaze. “I'm sorry..?”

 

“Your angle. What's your angle?” Tyler repeated again, his arms tightly folded across his chest.

 

Evan looked at Tyler in unclear confusion. He set his book down and laughed nervously because he didn't know what to say in rebuttal. “…I-I'm sorry, I don't think I understand...”

 

Tyler suddenly scowled at Evan and took a confident step forward. “In that case, I'll just get to the point.” He shrunk back slightly as Tyler neared him, suddenly feeling the urge that letting Tyler into his room had been a bad decision. “I used to planet hop during the first twenty years of my life. I've seen more criminals, primal aliens, and con men then there are shards of ice on your entire homeplanet, Snowflake.”

 

Evan took a nervous step backwards and felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle as he felt the cold wall behind him brush against his shoulder blades. “Uh…. okay-”

 

“So I can easily spot a liar a dozen kilometers away,” Tyler snarled quietly. Evan went silent and his breath hitched as a strong arm pinned itself to the space directly next to Evan’s head. Tyler leaned closer until all he could see was his furious blue eyes peering down at him with an icy coldness that could make even Evan, who grew up in a frozen wasteland, shiver.

 

“I'm going to say this once and one time only, so you'll do well to remember it; If you  _ ever _ do something to hurt  _ anyone _ on this ship, or even  _ contemplate _ it, I will be your personal escort to a violent and painful death through this ship’s airlock disposal. If you so much as lift your pinkie finger to back stab Lui and anyone else, the only thing you should be more scared of than being sucked into the merciless vacuum of Zephyrus is  _ me.” _ He moved to grab the collar of Evan’s shirt and yanked him even closer until their foreheads were almost touching, and he could feel his own heart racing as Tyler’s eyes were inches away, filled with accusation and fury.  _ ”Have I made myself clear?” _

 

Evan swallowed and looked up at Tyler with pure fear. “...C-Crystal.”

 

Tyler stared at him for another moment before nodding in approval and letting go of Evan’s shirt. Evan fell back until he was slumped against the wall and watched Tyler nervously as he turned on his heel and walked towards the bunk room’s door. The silence was almost intoxicating as Evan was too scared to move away from the wall, his heart beating erratically in his chest. Tyler paused before he walked through the door, and rested his hand on the arch to steady himself as he turned to glare at Evan over his shoulder.

 

“You better watch yourself, because you’ll be for damn sure that I’ll be watching you.”

 

Without another word, Tyler turned away and walked out of the bunk room. The door slid closed and clinked as it sealed itself shut, then it was still a few prolonged moments before Evan allowed himself to let out a loud, relieved sigh. Out of all of the ways to end this day,  _ that _ was the one event Evan had least expected to occur; being threatened to be murdered by his own teammate.

 

Was Tyler always like this, even to his teammates? A thought in the back of his head reminded him that Anthony had assured him that he was a nice guy, and Tyler was just being protective, but that did very little to reassure him. Why would it, when he had yet to see any evidence of that?

 

Taking a deep breath, Evan turned back to his textbooks to finish unpacking them. One scary crewmate out of ten (or eleven, if he counted Sark, and he still wasn’t quite sure whether an AI counted as a person or not) was not a bad ratio, and he shouldn’t have anything to worry about whenever everyone else was so nice. Besides, Tyler was only misunderstanding his intentions, so maybe once they’d spent more time together, he’d see that Evan wasn’t going to hurt anyone on board, and he’d start to trust him and maybe they could even be friends… _ maybe. _

 

Regardless of what Tyler thought of him, everyone else seemed to like him so far and didn’t mind his presence on their ship, and so he tried to remain hopeful for the future. He still had the obstacle of Delirious to overcome, but first meetings and introductions tended to be awkward anyway, especially when they were unexpected. Maybe if they got talking under different circumstances, then things would be different and they would get along. Maybe a few weeks down the line, they’d be laughing and joking together about how terrible their first impression of each other was and all his embarrassment and humiliation today would be nothing but a distant memory. It was a nice thought, and he desperately hoped that would be the case. 

 

Evan tried his hardest not to let those two tiny dark spots cloud over what was otherwise an unbelievable day. When he woke up that morning, he  _ never _ expected that he would be ending his day on an actual  _ spaceship, IN SPACE, _ and that thought alone was enough to bring a smile to his face. All his hopeless dreaming and desperate pining for a better future wasn’t for naught, and now here he was cruising slowly through the stars that seemed so out of reach yesterday but were now at his fingertips. He had finally taken that first step towards achieving his dream of exploring the galaxy, and he wasn’t going to let a few unfortunate interactions bring him down. 

 

Today was easily the best day of his life, and it was only just the beginning. There were whole worlds out there that he’d soon leave his mark on, and Evan couldn’t even fathom what new experiences he was going to be presented with. It was as terrifying as it was thrilling, and there was an excited buzz in his chest that wasn’t going to be quelled. His future was bright and shining and there was an entire universe out there waiting for him, and he couldn’t wait to meet it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens. 
> 
> This is all we have written so far, so it'll be quite awhile before we post the next chapter, and we apologize in advance for that. These chapters take a bit of time to perfect. BUT we hope you enjoyed everything we've written so far, and thanks for all the nice comments, kudos, etc, it means a lot! ♥
> 
> If you wanna keep up to date with us, here's our tumblrs:
> 
> Jay: http://jaysketchin.tumblr.com  
> Caora: http://brocksnuckel.tumblr.com
> 
> Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoyed <3
> 
> ~ Jay & Caora


	4. Chapter Four: Robetta Space Station

**** “Morning Evan,” Marcel greeted cheerfully, waving as he mixed the strawberries with his greek yogurt. “How’d you sleep?”

 

Evan shrugged. “It was alright,” Marcel nodded and sat down comfortably next to Anthony, who was sitting on the floor at the end of the table as he engaged in a morning chat with him and Brian. Brock leaned out of the kitchen archway and noticed Evan, then sent a welcoming smile that he was more than happy to return.

 

“Evan, you like eggs right?”

 

“Yeah, sure... but you don’t have to make me anything Brock, I can put something together,” Evan smiled. He had already been on the ship for a week and everyone was still acting so nice towards him - Brock and Anthony especially.

 

Brock shook his head. “It’s no trouble; there’s some extra from mine and Brian’s earlier. There’s also coffee in the pot if you want some.”

 

He nodded and turned away to face the window of the main room, to which his eyes finally settled on a familiar figure. Evan’s smile grew as he saw the back of the cerulean blue hoodie, and walked over to the lower landing that served as the den. Delirious was sitting with his legs bent up so his heels were resting on the couch cushions, and his socked toes curled over the edge like they were fingers as he mindlessly typed on the tablet that was expertly balanced on his kneecaps.

 

“Hi, Delirious!” Evan chirped energetically, sitting down beside him and making the quieter of the two jump in his tight animal-like pose. Delirious blinked and sharply turned to him as if he was some kind of terrifying creature, his eyes wide and panicked for a split second before the fear faded as he realised that it was only Evan. He muttered a quiet ‘hello’, and turned back to his tablet screen, typing away at the code he was working hard to complete before they reached their destination. Evan leaned back into the couch seat and looked out the thick glass window, marvelling at the sun they were orbiting past and letting the warmth of the light soothe his still drowsy limbs.

 

There were a few seconds before Delirious slowly turned his head to look at Evan curiously, giving him a silent look that clearly said ‘Are you leaving?’, but whether Evan noticed it or not, he didn’t know. In the meantime, it didn’t look like he had plans to leave, so it was obvious that the job of coding would include an additional companion, at least for the time being. Delirious sighed and resumed coding… up until he saw Evan scoot closer out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Did you sleep alright?”

 

Approximately two-thousand-seven-hundred milliseconds passed before Delirious fully comprehended what Evan had just asked him, and turned his head at a pace that took another three thousand milliseconds to complete. He raised his eyebrow sceptically and observed Evan’s face, looking for any hidden motive, but found none. The latter was simply smiling kindly at him, grinning and waiting patiently for a response, and eventually he decided that maybe a simple nod couldn’t hurt.

 

Delirious nodded his head ever so slightly, and Evan grinned. “Oh, great!” Finally, he was making progress with his roommate after days of trial and error. “I slept like a rock... No dreams, though, but no nightmares either. What about you, did you dream?” Evan scooted closer and to his surprise, he actually _ smiled _ at him. Except he had gotten so excited about it that he didn’t notice the genuine fear in Delirious’ eyes as he clenched his teeth in a forced, nervous smile. With a slow yet purposeful movement, he lifted his legs and scooted away from Evan, further down the couch.

 

“I mean, that’s assuming if you did dream… wait, do you not dream?” he asked, scooting closer to Delirious. “Are you like the kind of person who just never remembers their dreams? Or do you just remember but never write them down? That kind of reminds me when my mom would tell me to write down my nightmares, then write the ending and think about it when I went to bed to help fight the bad dreams. Weird, right?”

 

Delirious shuffled away again.

 

Evan blinked, then grinned. “Oh, I get it. You don’t wanna talk right now; that’s alright. Just go ahead and do your thing, I won’t be a bother!” He sat back in his chair and smiled politely at him, nodding respectfully to gesture that he could continue his work without any further interruption. Delirious stared at him intensely as if he was expecting him to continue talking, but when he didn't say anything else after five seconds, he turned away and got into a more comfortable position.

 

The couch creaked due to old age as he leaned back into the plush body of the pillows, pulling the tablet into his lap and calmly typing in commands and lines in flawless streams of binary. The small hologram of a planet flickered and glitched out as the code he was typing seemed to affect it, but quickly reverted to normal after he finished the line. Evan watched curiously and tilted his head to the side with an inquisitive quirk of his brow. He didn't know much about coding, but from the looks of it, it seemed that he was coding an entire _ planet. _

 

He leaned closer to get a better look over his shoulder, but Delirious didn't seem to mind, so he decided to try watching him work instead. After a few countless minutes, his urge to ask about what he was doing reached a boiling point, and he couldn't help himself. “...I don't recognise that planet. Is it a newly formed one?” he asked finally.

 

Delirious  _ jumped _ and reached up with one hand and slammed the lid of the tablet closed in a panic, turning to look at him in what Evan thought looked like embarrassment. Evan frowned apologetically at him while his glacier blue eyes flickered over his face in a movement that resembled prey looking up at their predator.

 

“I was just… wondering, since I didn't recognise it,” Evan confessed with an embarrassed chortle.

 

Delirious blinked at him, then narrowed his eyes as irritation appeared in the knitting of his brow and the grit of his teeth. “Well, of course you haven't; you lived on a lump of ice your whole life. Why would you ever recognise a planet that doesn't even  _ exist?” _

 

Silence hung between them so densely that Evan nearly found it hard to breathe. Venom was laced in his voice on every syllable and it was obvious that he was absolutely  _ livid _ by the way his eyes were piercing him through the chest and bore deep into his very core. Evan swallowed as his tongue dried out in sudden nervousness and fear, realising that maybe trying to make conversation had been an extremely bad idea after all, and slowly got up and sat back down a good foot away from him to give him proper space. 

 

Delirious huffed and quickly got to his feet, pulling his beanie down over his forehead and gripping his tablet tightly to his chest as he stomped off. His socked feet made quiet shuffling sounds as he disappeared down the hallway leading down to the lower levels while Evan sat there, still in shock of the sudden show of aggression he was shown.

 

Ever since the incident in the bunk room on his first night, Evan had been taking every chance he got to interact with Delirious in hopes of fixing their relationship, but at every chance he got he’d been pushed away. The horrible timing seemed to be his curse since the moment he had a chance to talk to Delirious, it was also immediately before he had to go do something else. He had no luck whatsoever but seeing unprovoked aggression coming from his roommate was most definitely a first. It was as though Delirious didn't want to be his friend at all, which baffled him because no one in their right mind would push away a chance to make a new friend, especially when it was your roommate. That's how socialising worked, wasn't it? 

 

However, he had done just that, and now Evan’s body deflated into the couch as he felt more hopeless than ever. There was just no pleasing Delirious, and he had completely run out of ideas on how to convince him to hold a stable conversation with him.

 

A forlorn sigh escaped him and he turned around to glance back, only to be startled when he saw his two crewmates staring at him with wide grins on their faces. Anthony had his paws resting under his face and was baring his teeth in a smile while Marcel was barely holding in laughter.

 

“What?” he voiced to them both with a small hint of defensiveness in his tone.

 

Marcel shook his head. “You try  _ way _ too hard, dude.” Evan frowned and looked down guiltily as he spoke. “He's not gonna fly off suddenly, you don't have to treat every conversation with him like it's your last.”

 

“I wasn't too pushy, was I?” Evan asked even though he knew fully well what the answer was.

 

“No, not at all,” Anthony tried to reassure helpfully, but he could tell that he was just being nice to make him feel better. “I think you were just fine. Delirious is just… introverted, that's all.”

 

“‘Introverted’?” Marcel repeated with a guffaw. “Try ‘lives under a rock and doesn't know how to say more than three words without stumbling over himself’.”

 

Anthony gasped and reached up to whack his arm. “Don't be rude!” he said firmly. “Jonathan keeps to himself; there's nothing wrong with that. Just because he doesn't like being forced into conversations and avoids normal interactions since it makes it makes him uncomfortable doesn't make it okay to talk about him behind his back.”

 

Marcel looked like he disagreed, but before they could get into another argument, the intercoms suddenly piped up.

 

“Attention, meatbags… and  _ Brian,” _ Evan heard someone yell ‘Screw you, Sark!’ down the hallway, “-we’re approaching Robetta’s orbit, so get into your cabin seats or the cargo hold if you want to not-die. Oh, and Marcel, Tyler, get some bags; Robetta is outfitted with an artificial descent. I don't want that gross-food juice on my floor.”

 

Marcel swore loudly. “Dammit, not _ another _ one!” he complained loudly, but Sark didn't offer any condolences and simply signed off. 

 

Evan was confused and looked to his medic for guidance. “What does an artificial descent mean?” he asked.

 

“Artificial descent means that the space station has a different direction for their artificial gravity, so we need to turn when we land so we’re oriented correctly,” Anthony explained while waving a paw casually. “It’s really disorienting because the gravity in the ship goes crazy when it’s changing to match the settings of the space station, so I hope you don’t have motion sickness.”

 

“I _ just  _ ate!” Marcel complained loudly and Anthony rolled his eyes while giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

 

“Is this your first time landing inside a ship, Evan?”

 

Evan swallowed but nodded. This would be his first time landing on a space station, or anywhere that wasn't Vanossi. A bubbling surge of giddy excitement was pooling in his gut, and a resurgence of thrill flooded his chest as he remembered that this would be the first time he would get to see a space station  _ up close. _ “Yeah,” he breathed. “Do I go down to the cargo hold with you guys?”

 

“Yep,” Anthony remarked with a smile. Marcel got the remaining traces of breakfast and tossed Evan an apple before walking into the kitchen. “Save that for after we land,” he advised. He then stood up and gestured for Evan to follow him. “We can take the ladder down since you haven't used them before.”

 

They walked past the stairs situated by Evan’s bunk room door and down the hall to the right which housed the bathroom, training den, simulation room, then an odd flight of stairs leading down to an odd set of doors made of a thick steel with tinted yellow windows. “Hey, Anthony?” Evan pointed to the doors curiously. “Where does that door go?”

 

“Hm?” Anthony turned around and smirked as he unlatched the trapdoor next to the staircase with his claws. “Oh, that's the airlock. That's where we send our trash when we're orbiting a star. I would _ not _ recommend climbing in there, because if you get locked in, you can't open it from the inside… and Sark probably won't let you out without scaring the crap out of you.”

 

“Noted,” he acknowledged while shoving the apple into his pocket. Anthony grunted quietly as he heaved the trapdoor open and squirmed inside, just small enough to fit inside the small tunnel leading down to the lower level.

 

“This is a quick entrance to the cargo bay if you're in the simulation room or bathroom.” Anthony climbed down and Evan hesitantly followed, reaching up and pulling the door closed behind him. The shaft went for about ten feet, and he saw Anthony wriggle out of the small entrance at the bottom before he reached the floor. When he got down he saw that he was now in the cargo bay and this was the ladder he had seen when he first got on board. 

 

Brian, Brock, Scotty, Arlan, Delirious, and Tyler were all already in the seats attached to the wall getting buckled in. Delirious was quietly on his tablet not speaking to anyone while Brian waved Anthony over as Brock and Arlan were speaking to each other in hushed Spanish. Tyler and Scotty were laughing about something at the far end, and Evan swallowed nervously as he saw Tyler’s eyes settle on him.

 

While Delirious and Evan's relationship was messy and unestablished, Tyler’s relationship with him was an utter  _ shitshow _ in comparison. Since the tense conversation on his first night where he threatened to murder him, Evan had been trying to show that he was harmless whenever he was in Tyler’s presence. To his dismay, nothing seemed to work, and Tyler didn't appear to like him any more than he did when they first met. Because of this, Evan had taken a liking to avoiding him at all costs. He didn't know Delirious enough to understand what he wanted, but he knew for sure that in order to gain Tyler’s trust, he would have to let him sit back and come to the conclusion that he was a trustworthy man on his own accord.

 

Coupled with Delirious being less than friendly this morning, Tyler glaring at the back of his head was just icing on top of the cake for an anxious afternoon.

 

Tyler’s pale blue eyes were following him as he made his way towards his seat. Delirious and him were on opposite sides, but Evan preferred being closer to his introverted roommate over the crewmate that looked like he wanted to strangle him. He picked the spot where he was between Brock and an empty seat, Scotty sitting in the one next to that. Arlan and Anthony sat next to Scotty, with Anthony squeezing into the largest seat in the row, and a few seconds later a voice crackled on the intercom, and Evan recognised Lui’s voice.

 

“Alright gang, get read-” There was a pause, then another long sigh. “Where the hell is Marcel?”

 

The door to the cargo hold swung open and they all turned to see their missing crewmate run into the room. “M’here!” Marcel panted, bending down and gripping his knees, trying to catch his breath. “I was… sorry…” Scotty snickered and Tyler elbowed Anthony then whispered something to him, making the panda giggle quietly.

 

Lui didn't sound as amused as they were. “Tick tock, guys. Five more seconds and it's coming out of your paycheck.” Marcel rolled his eyes and swaggered across the room and sat down in the spot between Scotty and Evan, sticking out his tongue at the camera in the corner of the cargo bay. “Real mature, Marcel,” Lui scolded, but they could hear the smile in his voice. “...Evan? You doing alright down there?”

 

Evan blinked and looked up excitedly. His eagerness to see the space station was overcoming his anxiousness and now all he could do was tap his knee in anticipation of landing.  _ ”Hell yeah!” _ he exclaimed, bouncing in his seat ever so slightly with his hands in tight fists pulled to his chest. The hair on the back of his neck prickled as he felt everyone’s eyes on him, and sure enough, when he turned he saw everyone looking a thin with smug smiles on their faces. His cheeks flushed a bright red and he looked down in embarrassment of his outburst. 

 

“I-I mean… yeah, I'm good. Chipper,” he professed, rubbing the back of his neck, giving a small salute for good measure. Brock chuckled beside him and patted his shoulder while he heard Marcel and Scotty laugh under their breath. He put his hands in his lap and bit his lip nervously. All of his crewmates knew that he was easily excited about anything space related but that wasn't enough to make him stop feeling embarrassed whenever he showed signs of his small obsession.

 

The ship jolted ever so slightly then began to hum louder as the vessel began to gently sway as the gravity of the space station began to pull them into its orbit. Evan tried to see what was going on through the small window of the docking bay, and his jaw dropped as he caught glimpse of the space station that was quickly approaching them. It looked like a spinning top, with a long cylinder making up the base with large rounded circles and diamonds wrapped around it. It almost looked like a fruit kabob with tiny lights and shapes floating around the station, and Evan guessed that those had to be other spaceships like theirs that were landing there.

 

“Hey, Snowflake.”

 

Evan flinched and turned away from the view at the sound of the familiar voice using the same nickname, but was honestly surprised to see Tyler staring at him, with what looked like…  _ amusement _ on his face. Tyler looked at his chest and smirked at him. “Don't you know how to put in a seat belt? Or is flying around the cargo bay some weird fetish of yours?” The tone was slightly condescending, but it didn't seem like anyone was fazed by it- in fact a few chuckled at the last statement- and frankly neither was Evan, but he was embarrassed when he realised that everyone had strapped themselves in except for himself.

 

“Oh! R-Right!” he stammered, grabbing his buckle and hastily trying to pull it over his chest in an ‘X’ shape. Panic settled in when he couldn't reach the buckle with his strap, but then a gloved hand reached over and gently adjusted the strap without a word. Evan looked up and smiled nervously as Brock gave him a patient yet amused grin, and buckled himself. Marcel was chuckling to himself as Scotty whispered something into his ear, and he looked at Evan.

 

“You seem even more nervous than you were this morning, Ev, are you doing alright?” he asked curiously.

 

Evan peered at Tyler out of the corner of his eye, and Delirious too. “Um… yeah, I'm okay? I've been better?” He withheld the reason- or  _ reasons-  _ why he was slightly under the weather, but that seemed to be enough for Marcel, so he nodded and sat back in his seat.

 

“Just wait until you see Robetta from the inside. That'll brighten your day for sure!”

 

Although he felt discouraged, Marcel’s reminder of what was coming made him excited once more. This was his first time stepping foot on something that  _ wasn't _ Vanossi-D19 or the Valkyrie, and the eagerness to see what it looked like was setting his nerves on fire.  _ Would there be aliens? Was it an all-human space station? What kinds of things do they sell in the market? Would there be any aliens he heard about in his textbooks? _ The questions flooding into his head were making it hard to think straight, so he decided to not think straight at all and just focused on observing what was happening.

 

“Robetta has granted us permission to dock at the warehouse port,” Lui spoke over the intercom, and Evan could hear Nogla talking to someone in the background over the radio. “Artificial descent is enabling in ten ticks.”

 

Marcel suddenly made an uncomfortable whining sound and Scotty rolled his eyes, offering his hand for him to hold. “Come here, ya big baby,” he sighed.

 

Brock looked at Evan with an excited look at on his face and hesitantly offered his hand as well. Evan smiled but didn't take it. “I should be alright, Brock, but thanks,” he explained, but made sure to grin kindly at him so he knew that his concern was appreciated. Brock looked uncertain, but nodded, although he kept his open hand between them. A few moments later, that decision would prove to be the wisest one because it became apparent that artificial descent was  _ hell. _

 

There was a sudden jolt, and the ship began to turn slightly on its axis, but just as it went off, a heavy weight up suddenly began dragging him downwards, anchoring him to his seat. Evan gasped at the sensation of the force keeping him in his seat multiplied and pushed down on his body, shoving him down into his chair like there was a lead weight in his stomach. He could see the view outside of the docking bay window turning and it obvious that the ship was spinning, but he was still standing upright. The visual made him feel sick and he screwed his eyes shut then quickly grabbed for Brock’s hand.

 

Brock looked at him with a sympathetic smile and gave his palm a reassuring squeeze. “You're okay, it's just the gravity,” he eased softly. Evan nodded, but that didn't make the discomfort any less bearable. 

 

The ship was vibrating harshly and he felt the ground shake as the landing gear deployed. The humming settled and slowly the heavy gravity keeping him in his seat gradually lessened, pushing less with every passing second. It wasn't until the ship dropped slightly and the humming quieted as the ship turned off that the last bit of extra gravity left, and he felt the normal, natural pull of gravity.

 

Marcel exhaled next to him and Scotty gently tapped his shoulder. “Marcel, you can open your eyes now,” he assured with a roll of his eyes. One eye pried itself open and looked around before Marcel relaxed, slumping into his chair and covering his face with his hands.

 

“I fucking hate that!”

 

Brock glanced at Evan curiously while Scotty tried to convince Marcel to not empty his breakfast into the bag he brought with him. “You doing alright? The first time is always the roughest.”

 

Evan swallowed but nodded. It was definitely uncomfortable and he hated it, but he felt fine now that the gravity was normal and it was over. “I'll be okay,” he finally admitted, and that seemed good enough for Brock. He smiled and unbuckled himself and Evan shortly copied him. Anthony stood up and immediately rushed to Marcel’s side, fretting over him and asking if he was okay. Although he looked irritated, Marcel smiled at his concern and quieted down considerably.

 

“It's not gonna be like this every time, is it? Because if so, you can drop me off here,” Evan joked lightly, and that earned a hearty laugh out of Brock.

 

“This is a rare occurrence; it's just bad luck that your space station had the worse outfitted landing settings available. The next times will be loads better.” Brock’s word finally gave him some peace of mind, and he couldn't help but wonder what the interior of the station was like.

 

“What's Robetta like?” he asked curiously.

 

Brock paused and put a finger to his lips. “Hm… you know, I honestly can't remember. It's been so long since I've been here… I think it's a bit rustic. All I remember from the brief information Lui gave us in our assignment sheets,” he paused at Evan’s confusion and quickly added, “-The assignments we got before we landed on Vanossi- was that it’s a really diverse space station. You're probably going to see a lot of non-humans and robots.”

 

Evan’s heart leapt and he felt excitement boil to the surface. He was going to see aliens. Real, actual aliens! The want to leave the ship and explore was growing so much that he was bouncing on his heels slightly as a cheek-splitting grin adjourned his face. “Seriously? Oh my Zephyrus!” he exclaimed, and Brock chuckled in amusement at his childlike wonder.

 

“Just remember to keep your distance if you don’t know how they act,” Brock advised sternly. “Some species can be very territorial and hostile if you invade their personal bubbles or say something offensive.”

 

“I’ll remember,” Evan replied with a smile. That seemed to satisfy Brock and he was about to say something else, but the sound of the cargo bay doors opening caught their attention, and Evan glanced over to see Lui walk through, Daithi trailing behind him with a clipboard in his hands.

 

“Alright, guys,” Daithi spoke up. No one seemed to notice him and sort of continued their hushed speaking while Brock and Evan were the only ones really paying attention to them. He looked almost hurt that none of them listened, but a small hand on his forearm made him glance down at Lui, and he smiled hesitantly. Lui mouthed something Evan couldn’t hear and gently took the clipboard from his hands before taking a step forward and narrowing his eyes.

 

He let out a shrill whistle out of the corner of his mouth, and everyone turned to him, cutting their voices off instantly. “Attention, fucknuts,” he growled with a cold expression. Everyone quickly cut the casual act and hustled into a straight line facing the walkway that was still unopened. Brock grabbed Evan’s wrist and gently tugged him into the line and nudged his arms to his sides.

 

“Stand up straight and stare straight ahead,” he whispered, and Evan swallowed nervously, posing his body to the best of his ability. In his panic, he had failed to realise that he was now standing shoulder to shoulder with Delirious, but Lui’s voice caught his attention before his eyes began to wander.

 

“Stand at ease,” Lui spoke briefly and everyone’s shoulders relaxed immediately. He pointed at the majority of the crew and scowled. “I know I may not use my authority often, but I am still your  _ boss. _ I sincerely hope you all will do well to remember that Nogla is not an exception to this, and both of us will use discipline if necessary.”

 

Scotty, Marcel, and Tyler, who had been the main three to not listen, looked like scolded dogs and nodded silently. That seemed to please him and he lightly slapped Tyler’s arm with a cheerful smile, and Evan was shocked that he could hit Tyler so casually without him even flinching. “Now lighten up, ya numpties! We have some jobs to do, and some mula to earn,”

 

Lui’s change of attitude and mention of paychecks made the room shift to a more positive and relaxed aura, and Evan saw Delirious and Brock both relax on either side of him. When he looked down at his much shorter roommate, Delirious avoided his gaze and instead chose to stare at the floor or the wall. He frowned at the silent rejection and when he looked to Brock for guidance, the latter only smiled and shrugged in sympathy for his predicament, conveying that he was as clueless as Evan was when it came to how Delirious’ mind worked. It was both concerning and disappointing that not even Brock knew the secrets to befriending his roommate and crewmate, but Evan decided that asking him about it in front of the man in question would be inappropriate, so he made a mental note to consult Brock later in a more private setting.

 

“Alright, listen up, ladies,” Lui spoke over the blur of voices, then everyone abruptly quieted and watched him with a sudden stillness and respect that Evan wasn’t even sure if he was on the same ship anymore. “I  _ don’t _ want a repeat of the Theta space station, so we’re going to do this quickly, and with little to no error this time. Okay? Now, for jobs, I’ve decided to-” Lui paused when he saw the cybernetic hand that was raised high into the air, and he closed his eyes as a disgruntled sigh escaped through his nose.  _ ”Yes,  _ Brian?”

  
  


Brian cleared his throat and took a small step forward, glancing around at his crewmates with a sort of shy, sheepishness that Evan had yet to see from him. “Yeah, um, about Theta…? I just wanted to remind everyone, before we moved any further, that the bridge exploding was  _ not _ my fault?”

 

Lui chuckled while everyone else, even Nogla, groaned in annoyance. Brock shook his head in amusement while Evan looked around in utter confusion. What had happened on a job that caused Brian to be involved in a  _ bridge exploding? _

 

“Oh my god, Brian, no one cares,” Marcel sighed, smiling slightly as he looked up at the ceiling in exasperation.

 

“I’m just saying! I didn’t do it!” Brian pointed out fiercely, and Brock put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down while Lui nodded at him to kindly tell him that it was water under the bridge. A few chuckled at his outburst, but no one looked genuinely annoyed, not even Tyler. 

 

Brock noticed Evan’s confused expression and chuckled. “I’ll tell you about it later over dinner,” he explained softly. He nodded and watched his two crewmates fall back in line while his mind ran out possible reasons a bridge on a space station would explode with Brian having a large connection to it. They delivered items, didn’t they? Why would blowing up a bridge be involved if they were a simple delivery and transport service?

 

Lui cleared his throat.  _ ”Anyways, _ like I was saying, our jobs are going to be simple this time. We need the quickest people on deck while anyone who isn’t needed to stay behind. This is also our last pit stop for the next month; if you want anything that isn’t on the ship that you can afford, take it up with Brock, he’s making a list.”

 

Brock waved a hand and Evan saw Scotty and Marcel make an excited expression at one another before hurriedly whispering to each other. Anthony took a small notepad out of his pack and wrote something down on it and Tyler leaned down to mutter something in his ear. Lui didn’t appear fazed and crossed his arms then pointed at his cybernetic crewmate. “Brian, you’re going with him in case he needs to carry more than fifty pounds.”

 

“Aye,” Brian replied quickly, and he nudged himself closer to Brock to visually show that they had been paired up.

 

Lui pointed to Marcel and Arlan next and then gestured to the space between them and himself. “Marcel, Arlan; you two are accompanying me to negotiations and to make sure the transaction goes smoothly,” He turned to Daithi, who straightened up and looked at him seriously. “Nogla, you’re in charge of the Valkyrie while we’re gone. Stay in the cabin and make sure everything's in order,” Daithi nodded with a stoic expression while Lui turned to face all of them. “Delirious, you and Anthony are staying with Nogla. Scotty, you’re in charge of keeping watch at the legs of the ship. Don’t let any fuckers in without my saying so. Tyler, you’re bringing the supplies to the warehouse.” Lui paused then crossed his arms curiously. “Are you okay with doing that on your own?”

 

Tyler waved a hand and nodded. “I’ve carried worse by myself, I’ll be fine,”

 

“Oh sure, and we’re going to pretend me carrying you off the planet didn’t happen because…?” Marcel spoke up while giving Tyler a cheeky grin.

 

“I carry you fucks on my back almost every day,” he argued back. Everyone chuckled that their banter and Evan was slightly surprised to see how casually he was acting around them. It was miles ahead of the social interactions he had with Tyler, and if he was honest with himself he hadn’t thought Tyler could act so… normal.

 

“Alright then,” Lui interrupted with a smirk. “Guys, again, I  _ don’t _ want to have to deal with that Theta crap again. We’re already two hours behind; we need to be quick; we need to be diligent; we need to be careful; and we need to be thorough. Not one grain out of place this time. Got it?” Everyone nodded quickly and Lui gave them all one last once-over, checking to see if anything was out of order, then nodded in approval. “...Alright. Dismissed.”

 

Everyone around Evan immediately split up except for Brian and Brock, who stuck next to him for the sake of convenience. Brock took out a notepad from his utility belt and began writing down food items while Brian began listing off items the other’s had asked him for. Anthony hurried over and handed Brian his paper from his own notepad and smiled at Evan in a warm greeting before walking over to Marcel, Scotty, and Tyler. Evan’s eyes flickered and with a sudden realisation, he noticed that someone was missing. When he turned his head to glance at Delirious, he was surprised to see that he was already gone, having left about twenty seconds ago.

 

A thought occurred to him, and he frowned slightly in confusion. Lui had assigned everyone roles except for him, and he was a bit curious as to what  _ his _ job was. A brief glance around the room told him that everyone had their own roles, with Delirious already missing and Nogla waving Lui goodbye before walking out of the cargo bay, presumably to the cabin. Lui was conversing with Arlan and Marcel while Scotty was helping Anthony and Tyler prepare the two carts of cargo for transport, tying them to the carts and linking them together in a small train of cars.

 

He briefly waved to Brock to show that he was gonna go somewhere, and he smiled and gave him a quick wave goodbye. “Oh! Evan, do you want us to grab you something? Pasta, frozen pizza, candy, clothes?”

 

Evan shook his head, not even knowing what the first two items were, so the odds were that he wouldn't need them anyway. “No thanks, I'm okay!” he explained while turning back to jog backwards then turned around to hurry over to Lui before he lost the chance to ask about his assignment. Brock watched him, curious about his sudden hastiness, but shrugged it off as excitement and looked back at Brian, scribbling something down for Evan regardless.

 

“Okay, so when we get there, I need you flanking me, Marcel,” Lui explained as Evan approached them. Marcel nodded and Arlan lifted his hand slightly to ask what he was doing, and Lui turned to him. “-and Arlan you’ll be on my left side. I know the dealer has been labelled as trustworthy, but we don't want anyone between us and the door at any given moment. A blocked door equals no getaway method, so we need an escape route at all times, preferably with the door open, or no door at all. We're aiming for a meeting in the booth at the Nebulae Pub-”

 

They all stopped as they noticed Evan walking up to them, and he paused. “Evan? Did you need something?”

 

Evan swallowed nervously as he realised that he was intruding on their conversation. “Um, it’s okay, I can wait.”

 

Lui smiled at him in amusement and shook his head. “Don’t give me that; I can take a few seconds to talk.” He turned to Marcel and Arlan and gestured to the door. “You two get outfitted in the armory, I’ll explain more on the way.” They nodded and left, then Lui turned to him with his attention focused completely on him. “What can I do for you?”

 

“Um, well, I was just… curious…?” Evan admitted hesitantly, rubbing the back of his head. “I mean, you gave everyone their jobs and I was wondering what I was going to do…?” He was curious as to what he was going to do on Robetta to play his part but was confused as to why Lui hadn’t mentioned him. Had he forgotten there was a new crew member?

 

“Oh!” Lui laughed sheepishly and looked at him apologetically. “Sorry, I’m still getting used to giving orders to ten people instead of nine! You have a job, of course, I just didn’t realise I forgot. Force of habit, sorry about that.”

 

“It’s alright,” Evan assured with a small laugh. That made sense; Lui was used to working with nine people for months, so he probably isn’t used to it being ten instead. “So, what am I gonna do?” His excitement leaked out into his voice and he was  _ so _ excited to hear what his first big job was going to be. Would he accompany Brock and Brian to see the marketplace? Was he going with Lui to see how trade deals worked? Did he have something completely different? The eagerness to go out and explore was practically tearing him apart and he had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from letting out an excited squeal. He ready, more than ready, to see his first space station, and interact with his first aliens, and shake hands with his first robot, and see the different foods, clothes, and buildings of the universe that he had never seen before.

 

“You’re gonna stay and help Scotty guard the ship,” Lui chirped, and Evan’s joy abruptly came crashing back down.

 

...Had he heard that right? He was going to  _ stay? _

 

No, Lui couldn’t have given him a job that involved him staying on the Valkyrie, he  _ knew _ how excited Evan was. It was obvious to everyone that he was like a child on the morning of the Frost Orbit when it came to space; he had rambled for minutes in the past week dozens of times. Robetta was his first chance to see everything he had spent his entire life reading about and dreaming of with his own eyes. Now, he was suddenly being expected to stay put and not see an inch of any of it? Ridiculous! 

 

There was no way Lui was deliberately taking that opportunity away from him… right?

 

“...Staying?” Evan repeated, barely above a whisper.

 

Lui frowned sympathetically. “I know, you probably weren’t expecting that. It’s just…” he sighed and slumped his shoulders then gestured for Evan to step closer. “The whole incident at Vanossi has set us back by two hours, and the person we’re delivering these goods to has a really short fuse when it comes to things not being on time. For all of our sakes and the sake of payment, I can only bring the fastest crewmates aboard with me this time. If we weren’t set back by that much, I  _ would _ let you come with, believe me, I  _ want _ to bring you! But… we just can’t afford to do that right now. Does that make sense?”

 

Evan’s heart was shattered at his feet, but he mustered the mental strength to give a weak nod. So he couldn’t see the space station at all because of Randy and his racist prank on their fuel supply. Rage boiled through his veins and Lui must have noticed his hands clenching into tight fists, because the next thing he said was, “I’m really sorry, Evan. If I had the time to give you a tour, I would… my hands are tied, and I need to think of the consequences if we stay back to look around. I promise, you can come next time and I’ll show you around personally. Is that fair?”

 

Deep down, he knew it was more than fair, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. After waiting for a week to see his first space station in person, all of his hopes were taken away simply because of time, or lack of it, made him want to cry. “Yeah, that's fair,” he croaked, trying to force a smile on his face, but Lui could see through it immediately.

 

“I'm sorry, Evan,” he offered softly, apologising again even though Evan knew that it wasn't his fault.

 

“It's okay,” Evan assured him politely. A part of him wanted to tell Lui the truth and confess that no, it wasn’t okay, he was  _ devastated, _ but his brain reminded him that Lui was his superior, and his boss, and if he complained it would only look bad on his reputation. No, it was better if he was patient and simply waited until next time. Maybe there were some pages about the space station he could read on the computer in the main room in the meantime. Yeah, that was better; he could do that instead of going. It was better than disobeying and risk being fired just to catch a glimpse of an alien or two.

 

Lui looked at him uncertainly, but nodded curtly and walked off to speak to Tyler and Anthony, but the moment his back was turned, Evan’s shoulders slumped and his smile fell immediately. His eyes flickered to the window and he saw metal walls outside, he swallowed the growing lump in throat and forced himself to tear his eyes away from it. Seeing fractions of what he was going to inevitably miss would only make it hurt more. Instead, Evan looked around the cargo bay, but that was when his dark eyes met a blue one and a matching red light for a pupil. Brian was looking at him from across the room and had a look of concern etched across his face. He must have seen Evan’s demeanour change when Lui left.

 

He winced internally and awkwardly waved, but Brian just narrowed his gaze and nodded his head towards Lui. Evan blinked, puzzled, and mouthed ‘what’ to him while holding his arms out in a confused manner. 

 

Brian rolled his eye and gestured to Lui’s back and very clearly mouthed ‘tell him how you feel’ and Evan stiffened then shook his head frantically. No way, he was  _ not _ going to complain to Lui, that was out of the question. Brian glared at him in annoyance and pointed to Evan, pointed to Lui while shaking his head, then at himself. Evan paled at the obvious translation.

 

_ ”If you don’t tell him, then I will.” _

 

He nodded hesitantly and Brian smiled at him happily. He was anxious that Brian was pushing so hard for him to be honest, but Evan also knew that he was doing it with purely good intentions. His crewmate just wanted him to feel comfortable talking to Lui about his problems; he couldn’t be mad at Brian simply for being a friend. However, he couldn’t bring himself to talk about it now, not after they finished their conversation merely minutes before. No, he could wait for a little while. One more glance outside the window sent a sharp pang of longing through his chest, and Evan found that he didn’t want to be in the room anymore. It was teasing him with glimpses of the outside world as if it was a form of torture, and his chest constricted tighter and tighter until it became difficult to breathe properly.

 

“Evan?”

 

The voice was so sudden and intrusive to his train of thought that he nearly jumped out of his skin. Evan whipped around and stared at Brock as if he was a deer caught in the headlights, but Brock seemed to not notice as he was still looking at Evan with a concerned look. “Is everything okay?” he queried gently.

 

Evan’s eyes trembled, betraying his calm and collected facade, as he glanced from Lui then to Brock hesitantly. “Um… y-yeah, it’s fine,” he mumbled. He rubbed the back of his neck while Brock tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms and lifting his eyebrow in suspicion.

 

“Really? Because you look like you just saw someone murder a box full of kittens.”

 

Shit, he noticed. Hurried, jumbled messes of excuses flooded through his head as to why he was so upset without sounding like he was bad-mouthing Lui behind his back flooded through his head. He didn’t want to sound ungrateful to anyone, because god, he  _ wasn’t. _ He had never been more grateful for the opportunities Lui had given him; this was only a mild bump in the road on his path to adventure. He understood that in due time he would move on from it, but right now, in the heat of the moment… it  _ hurt.  _ He hadn’t felt this way since he had first seen the Valkyrie pull out of the docking station when he had been mere seconds too late, and it most definitely was not a welcomed feeling. Brock was still looking at him, face raised in silent irritation at his lack of response, so Evan swallowed his cowardice and decided to be honest. He couldn’t bring himself to lie to Brock, not when he had done so much for him already with making him feel welcome and being one of his first real friends in what felt like a decade.

 

“I…” he sighed, and took a deep breath. “... Lui isn’t having me go on the space station with you guys.”

 

Brock’s eyes widened until they were almost the size of golf balls, and he could see the disbelief in his eyes as he processed what Evan had just confessed to him. “...He’s not?” Brock echoed softly, and when Evan frowned and nodded, his expression softened into a heartbroken expression as if he was a child who was just denied a toy. “Why not?”

 

“He said something about time constraints and that we don’t have time to show me around the space station,” Evan explained, nodding towards his captain with his head while Brock’s face stilled. His eyes darkened in disbelieving anger while his hand clenched into a tight fist at his side. “They need to be quick about it and he needs the people who are the fastest going out there so we won't lose more time-”

 

_ “I don't care!” _ Evan jumped at the loudness of his voice but was even more put off by the  _ anger _ in the way he spat out every word like it was poison. “That- that’s not fair! You’ve been waiting to see it for  _ days!” _

 

“I know,” Evan assured, trying desperately to calm his friend down. He had never seen Brock so angry in the time he had known him, and it was  _ scary _ to see him practically vibrate in rage. “There’s nothing we can do, though-”

 

“Oh, I’ll  _ do _ something all right,” Brock growled, shoving past Evan and walking towards Lui. He stopped and whipped around and pointed at Evan fiercely. “Wait here.”

 

Evan nodded and watched anxiously as Brock stomped over to Lui, calling his name and to his shock, heard  _ Spanish _ come flying out of his mouth. Out of all the things he knew about Brock, he hadn’t ever known that Brock could speak the same language as Arlan and Lui. Tyler, Anthony, and Scotty all looked at Brock in surprise, and Anthony hurriedly ran off seeking comfort with Brian, who was watching it all with a proud grin on his face. Lui held up his hands and quickly replied in hushed Spanish, but Brock stepped closer and jabbed his chest with his finger, then pointed back at him, making Evan’s face heat up when everyone’s eyes settled on him.

 

_ “¡No puedo creerte! ¿Porqué no dejas que Evan te acompañe?” _

 

Lui blinked in surprise and raised his arms defensively and quickly replied back in hurried Spanish. 

_ “¡Cálmense! ¡No tenemos tiempo para mostrar á Evan!” _

 

_ ”¡No me importa! ¡Te promesa mostrar Evan la estación espacial!” _ Brock snapped angrily, throwing out his arms in exasperation. 

 

Lui looked very nervous, perhaps even disturbed, that the most soft-spoken member of their crew was  _ yelling _ at him in  _ Spanish, _ and Evan could immediately tell that this was not something that happened often. Brian was looking at Brock with an excited open-mouthed smile and looked at Evan every few seconds in awe as if Brock being angry was some incredible feat that he had accomplished without even realising it.

 

_ “Sé que lo prometí, pero no puedo.” _ Lui explained with a solemn expression, and that only made Brock look even more angry than he was before.

 

_ “Por qué no? ¡Maldita sea, Lui. Le prometiste!” _

 

Lui flinched, and he looked at Brock with a sad expression. Evan couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but he could tell that Brock had said something that made him feel guilty. He muttered something softly, and Brock’s shoulders slumped. 

 

_ “Sé que le prometí a Evan que le mostraría todo. La estación esta peligrosa y me preocupa la seguridad de Evan.” _ Brock’s glare softened and he tilted his head to the side quizzically, most of the anger fading away as Lui continued.  _ ”Por eso, Evan no puede venir; No es seguro para viajar solo o con alguien suficientemente fuerte para acompañarlo.” _

 

“...I understand,” Brock whispered, speaking quietly in Common once more, and Lui nodded sadly. “...Can he come with Brian and me?”

 

“Brock,” Lui said in a firm enough voice that Brock looked down sadly.

 

“Right… just… promise me that you’ll make up for it, alright?”

 

Lui’s mouth thinned, and he nodded silently, then Brock turned back and walked back over to Evan with a defeated look on his face. Lui turned back to the others and quickly the room became lively again, but now three of the occupants looked like they were scolded puppies. Brian looked at Brock frantically and gestured to Evan and himself. “What did he say? Did you convince him?”

 

Brock exhaled through his nose, then after a short pause shook his head. Brian guffawed and Evan’s heart sunk even deeper. If Brock couldn’t convince Lui to let him go see Robetta, then who could? “Lui… he doesn’t want Evan getting hurt.”

 

_ That _ caught Evan off guard. Hurt? Why would Lui be worried about Evan’s safety? They were just delivering goods and it would only be a simple walk around the station; he didn’t see the harm in that. A voice in the back of his head told him that there was something the others weren’t really telling him, and he felt slightly confused that they were being so vague about what exactly went on during the missions. “Hurt? Why would I get hurt?” he voiced, crossing his arms and looking at Brock expectantly. If there was one person he trusted to tell the truth, it was Brock.

 

Brock swallowed and hesitantly replied, “Um… we uh- tend to have… bad luck on missions. Usually, something goes wrong, and Lui is worried that if something happens while everyone is dispersed and you’re alone, something could happen to you. He doesn’t really show it, but he’s always protective of new crewmates whenever they join.”

 

“Yeah, he just doesn’t want some wacko alien eating you while he’s mooching off the businessmen,” Brian interrupted with a grin. Brock glared at him slightly and rolled his eyes.

 

_ ”Non-humans, _ and he’s just looking out for you. He promised to show you around himself personally next time, he just doesn’t have enough people to give you an escort that could guarantee your safety.”

 

That sounded fairly reasonable. There were more than half of the crewmates on duty for this and while Evan loved Brian and Brock, he understood why Lui felt unsure about making the ship’s marshmallow of a mechanic being the only shield between a raging space creature and himself. That also explained why he didn’t want him accompanying him to the meeting itself as well; Evan would be like a black sheep in a business meeting like that, and judging by the conversation he heard earlier, Lui was not expecting things to go as smoothly as he’d like. No, Brock’s explanation made sense, as upsetting as it was. With the knowledge that he was not quite ready to be on his own, Evan felt determination surge through him to train in combat and self-defence so an incident like this wouldn’t have to become the norm.

 

“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” Brock inquired gently. He gestured to Evan’s outfit- a black long-sleeved shirt tucked into his brown cargo pants he used to wear on Vanossi, and thickly furred boots- and raised an eyebrow curiously. “Maybe some clothes for warmer weather? It seems like you wear fewer layers every day…”

 

“That’s okay, Brock, you don’t need to get me anything,” Evan assured smilingly. He appreciated Brock’s want to shop for him, but he had been helpful enough today and didn’t need to do anything else for him - not that he wanted Brock to do things for him to begin with. “I’ll redo my wardrobe after I earn my first paycheck, but I’m fine right now.”

 

“Alright…” Brock concluded hesitantly. He sounded unsure but left it at that. He looked at Brian and smirked. “What about you? More bionic underwear?”

 

Brian narrowed his eyes and harshly elbowed Brock, making him laugh.  _ ”Dick.” _

 

“Yeah, that’s why I’m asking actually,” Brock quipped, not missing a beat. “Anything for the parts where your metal ch-”

 

A metal hand slapped over his mouth and Brock’s voice became muffled as Brian glared harshly at him.  _ ”Thank you, Brock, _ but I don’t need anything for my robotic parts,” he growled dangerously, not missing the way Evan was barely holding in laughter.

 

“Wow, Brian, you’ve really got a really  _ steely _ sense of humour,” he joked, smiling at them both smugly.

 

Brian stilled and he could see the gears rapidly turning in Brock’s head before he let out a loud burst of laughter, knocking Brian’s hand away. “Oh my gosh,  _ how _ have I never thought of that one?” he wondered aloud, laughing while Brian glowered at them both.

 

“I hate both of you.”

 

The sound of a door opening caught all of their attention, and they all turned to see Arlan and Marcel walking into the cargo bay. Arlan had a plasma shotgun hooked onto his back and multiple magazines strapped to the sash crossed over his chest while Marcel was twirling some odd white weapon that was pulsing a vibrant purple with a pistol to match. Lui turned away from Scotty and Anthony and beamed at them both, walking over to meet them halfway. 

 

“Are you two all set?” When they both nodded, he smiled and glanced at the nearby intercom in satisfaction. “Okay, then let’s hit it.”

 

Evan heard the familiar sound of the door hissing as it unlocked, and the ground beneath them trembled as the walkway jerked free and slowly began folding downwards. Almost instantly, he heard the sounds of engines humming, the sound of ships flying by and a distant murmur of a voice over an intercom. He grinned as his stomach did a backflip, despite being aware that he couldn’t see an ounce of what was about to be seen. Even if he was disappointed, he couldn’t bring himself to not be excited at the sound of Robetta space station, and his heart was beating faster by the second.

 

“Brian; you and Brock are going to take the elevator to the marketplace,” Lui explained as Tyler finished setting up the cart, then he gestured for Brock and Brian to walk out of the ship on the walkway.

 

Brian grinned and nodded while confidently walking out, but Brock hesitated. He followed Brian at a much slower pace but didn’t look back at Evan. His heart panged in his chest at the sight of one of his closest friends and crewmates on board leaving the ship- and by extension, his reassurance was leaving with him. Brock looked guilty as he strode towards the sloping panel leading outside, but as they were about to begin walking down, he stopped them both and turned around to look Evan. Their eyes met, and Evan could see so much guilt in his eyes that it almost made his heart break. He looked as though he was going to say something, but before he could, Brian gently grabbed his wrist and tugged on it gently.

 

_ ”Brock, _ we don’t have time. We need to go,” he muttered solemnly. 

 

Brock looked at him with a saddened expression, but complied and gave Evan one last apologetic frown before vanishing from sight alongside Brian.

 

Immediately after they left, Evan’s shoulders slumped. Now he was standing by himself in the centre of the cargo bay, and he felt the same feelings he experienced when he thought he had missed the ship on Vanossi come flooding back to him. He wasn’t going, just like how he had been too late the first time, and he almost wanted to run into the privacy of his bunkroom and lie down in bed until they left the station. Perhaps if he shoved the pillow over his head it could tune out the sounds of the landing ships and intercom? He could borrow Nogla’s tablet and headphones and listen to music as well, maybe, but he had a job to do  _ here. _ He couldn’t hide away when he had been assigned a job to work with Scotty, and Evan knew that. No, he had to stay here with the space station so close yet so far away.

 

Lui was leading Tyler, Marcel, and Arlan off the ship when he glanced back to make sure everything was in order, and when his eyes landed on Evan, his heart skipped a beat. He immediately straightened up and forced a smile, waving at him with a strained cheerfulness. Fear gripped his chest when Lui’s eyes narrowed and he looked back at the others, who were now waiting for him down the ramp, and he bit his lip, clearly thinking about something. Evan guessed he had simply forgotten something, and he pushed the small ounce of hope that was quickly rising back down before he could fool himself into thinking he had a chance.

 

“...Evan?”

 

His heart  _ stopped. _ Did Lui just call his name? Was he going to yell at him for making such a big deal out of not going?! Evan panicked and began making hasty apologies and excuses for Brock’s outburst while he hesitantly walked towards Lui. He could see a small part of the docking station from where he was now, and his heart was pumping erratically in his chest. “Yes, Lui?” he asked, trying desperately to keep his voice even so Lui wouldn’t suspect his disappointment or anxiousness.

 

“I just realised… Tyler has to bring the cargo through a really sketchy part of the station at one point, and I know he can handle himself just fine, but I don’t feel comfortable with letting him carry that by himself. I think he should get a second pair of hands, just in case.” His eyes moved to look at Evan and he was confused for a brief moment before realisation hit him like a speeder with no brakes. Was Lui really saying what he thought he was saying?

 

“And since Nogla and Scotty are busy, and Marcel and Arlan are with me… could you possibly give him a hand?”

 

Holy fucking shit, he  _ was. _

 

Evan’s heart seemed to stop completely, and his throat dried out when he almost lost the ability to breathe as his mind had a complete  _ breakdown. _ He was going to see Robetta... He was going to  _ see Robetta.  _ He was going to SEE Robetta!

 

“W-Wa-... You mean I…?” Evan spluttered, his eyes widening till they were the size of golfballs. Lui grinned and nodded in confirmation, and it took every fibre of Evan’s being to keep himself from letting out a loud cry of pure, unfiltered excitement.  _ ”Oh my Zephyrus!” _

 

“He’d have to keep you close, and you can’t wander off because you have a job to do, but you can sightsee as you go as long as you don’t walk off the path-” Lui explained, but Evan was so eager and hyper at this point that he was bouncing on his heels in childlike awe. He was going to see a  _ space station! _ It was taking all of his willpower to not pull Lui into a hug, but he was so happy and ecstatic that his need to professionalism lost the battle.

 

“Thank you!” he cried, grabbing Lui and tugging him into a bone crushing hug, lifting him up so high that his legs couldn’t touch the floor. “Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me, thank you!” A blissful smiled fell on his face and he hugged Lui tight against his chest, and after a few seconds of being in surprised shock, Lui smiled back and wrapped his arms around Evan’s back to awkwardly return the hug. “Thank you…”

 

They stood like that for a few moments before Lui cleared his throat, and Evan’s eyes snapped open in realisation. “OH!” he exclaimed sheepishly, pulling away and setting Lui on the ground as his face flushed a bright red. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I was just… really excited,”

 

Lui laughed. His amusement was a good sign that there were no hard feelings, so Evan allowed himself to relax. “It’s alright, I don’t blame you.” He gestured to the walkway as he grinned at him. “We should catch up with the others, don’t you think?” Evan’s smile was so big that he was sure that he was splitting his face in half, and he nodded eagerly, not so subtly racing past Lui and down the ramp to see what he was missing.

 

The docking station was a large, spacious warehouse with a long tunnel leading out of the space station behind them. The walls were tall and made of a thick steel with massive pillars stretching all the way to the ceiling with outlets and fuel tanks installed at the base of them. Large fluorescent lights were in the startlingly high ceiling, and Evan was in awe in the simple fact that there were  _ rooms _ this big. The ships were docked in large landing platforms, outlined in a circular shape with lights built into the floor that seemed to change colour to symbolise if they were occupied or not. The floors were a reflective, stainless black material that echoed as he walked on it, and a large arch lit up with a golden light was labelled as the exit to the docking station.

 

Evan was speechless. This was only the landing station for the ships, but he was already in awe to the point where he could no longer form coherent sentences. The landing pad beside the Valkyrie suddenly went from a bright green to a fluorescent gold, and he gasped and turned at the incoming hum. When he turned around, he saw two bright headlights approaching.  _ Another _ spaceship, most likely being driven by  _ non-human _ pilots. He stopped while Lui went to speak with the others in favour of watching the silver, sleek, teardrop-shaped spaceship turn upside down as it adjusted to the artificial descent.

 

Marcel and Arlan were talking to Tyler when they both showed up, and Lui nodded his head towards Evan with an amused smile. “Change of plans; we’re having a plus one.”

 

“Is this the rookie’s first time?” Arlan asked, smirking at Evan’s form just a dozen or so feet away as he was completely mesmerised.

 

“Yeah,” Lui confirmed. “I felt bad keeping him behind, so I figured Tyler could use an extra pair of hands.”

 

_ ”Excuse me?” _ Tyler exclaimed in disbelief. Marcel looked at him excitedly and Arlan snickered. “You’re- he is  _ not _ coming with me!”

 

Lui turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “You’re carrying over four hundred pounds of cargo across a five-kilometer space station by yourself and through the most dangerous sector of the entire station- you’re getting help.”

 

Tyler narrowed his eyes and glared over at Evan, who was blissfully staring at the ship as it landed beside them. “-I don’t trust him. What if he-”

 

“This isn’t about trust, Tyler,” Lui interjected firmly. “This is about  _ doing your job, _ and I suggest you think about that. Make your judgements on whether Evan is trustworthy on your own time, especially since you clearly don’t trust your  _ captain's _ judgement on who’s safe to work on  _ my _ ship.”

 

His face was set in a firm expression that showed that he was not in the mood to argue, and Marcel watched them both warily, but Tyler slumped his shoulders instead of replying and sighed through his nose. “Fine. He can come with, but I don’t want to play fucking babysitter to Snowflake over there.”

 

“You won’t,” Lui assured with a small laugh. “He can take care of himself if you’re telling him what to do. I know he can.” He turned to Evan and raised his voice. “Evan! We’re going!” Evan whipped around and smiled sheepishly. “You’re pairing up with Tyler.” Evan stopped in his tracks and blinked.

 

…Tyler? As in ‘threatened-to-murder-him-on-his-first-day’ Tyler?  Perhaps the threatening incident hadn’t left the privacy of his room, but that still didn’t make Evan comfortable with the idea of being with Tyler. Alone. For hours.  _ Alone. _ He swallowed and hesitantly walked forward. Tyler was staring him down as if he were a wild animal, and he was half tempted to turn around and book it back to the ship, but the urge to see the space station still fought mercilessly against his fear of his own teammate. He only prayed that Lui gave him some form of a talking to beforehand because he honestly wasn’t sure if Tyler was going to ‘accidentally’ hurt him once they were all alone.

 

“Y-Yeah, sure…” he stuttered nervously. Marcel gave him a sympathetic smile, then a stern glare at Tyler before walking off with Arlan.

 

Lui smiled and handed Evan a tablet and it turned on, showing an intricate map of the space station, with a small red dot blinking over the square labelled as ‘Docking Bay 07’. “Just follow the white line and you’ll get there in no time.”

 

“Got it. Thanks,” Evan thanked softly, and Lui gave him a confident pat on the shoulder before sending them both off.

 

“Have fun! Take your time coming back, just get there as fast as you can on the way there!” he paused and raised his hand. “Oh, Tyler;” Tyler turned around and tilted his head curiously. Lui gave him a stern look and crossed his arms.  _ ”Play nice.” _

 

Tyler smiled and his shoulders shook as he chuckled, resting a hand on his hip. “Can’t make any promises, Cap. That all depends if  _ he _ does too.” Without another word, he walked off, Evan and the carts in tow, and Lui, Marcel, and Arlan were left by the Valkyrie as the two crewmates ventured off in Robetta together.

 

“I hope you made a good choice in pairing those two up,” Arlan warned, worry etched over his features. They all knew how Tyler was around strangers, and they could only hope that he was easy on Evan.

 

“Yeah… I hope so too,” Lui remarked, watching them leave. Evan’s eyes sparkled as he took in the view of the station, mesmerised by every curve of the structure, and he smiled. “One thing’s for sure, though; Evan is gonna have a  _ blast.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is a VERY special day for this AU. On Christmas Day of 2015, Caora and I (Jay) talked about the Space AU for the first time, with a silly character idea for Brian and Brock's character. Twelve months later, we're neck deep in the most intricate space epic either of us have ever made, and I speak for both of us when I say that this is one of the most prized items we have created together. Today is also special because today marks the day Caora and I began to speak each other as friends. This is the anniversary of the Space AU, and us <33
> 
> We hope you all have an amazing Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and/or Winter Break, and please accept this 11K behemoth as our Christmas present to YOU.
> 
> We love you all and enjoy <333
> 
> === SPANISH TRANSLATIONS (We had outside help with translations, but if there is a fluent Spanish speaker who wishes to correct any mistakes they found, please let us know. It is not our intention to offend native-Spanish speakers, and any help with accurate language translations are welcomed <3) ===
> 
> Brock: "I can not believe you! Why don't you let Evan go with you? "  
> Lui: "Calm down! We have no time to show Evan the station! "  
> Brock: "I don't care! You promised to show Evan the space station!"  
> Lui: "I know that I promised, but I can't."  
> Brock: "Why not? Dammit, Lui, you promised! "  
> Lui: "I know I promised Evan I'd show him everything. The station is dangerous and I worry about Evan's safety. That's why Evan can't come; It's not safe to travel by himself or with someone not strong enough to accompany him. "

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! Jay and Caora here! We're so, so, SO happy to finally share this with you all! It's been a been a reallllllly long time, and we cannot express how grateful we are that you all have been so patient and supportive of us for all these months (almost an entire YEAR :O). We hope that the wait will have been worth it for you all, but if you're reading this then that must mean that you've finished reading it, so we hope that it WAS worth the wait. If you liked it, please consider subscribing to the series to always be updated on it, or even leave a comment about what your favorite part was! Every little thing to show that you enjoyed it makes our day <3
> 
> Feel free to follow us both on tumblr to stay updated! :D  
> http://brocksnuckel.tumblr.com/  
> http://jaysketchin.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thank you so much for reading,  
> \- Jay & Caora <3


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